White Petals
by yongseok
Summary: 5th Holy Grail War, different plot of the original FSN series
1. Prologue  Start

**Prologue**

Rin stood by the large window, sipping her daily morning tea, sunlight flooding in through the ornately decorated window of her almost mansion-like house. For the first time in her life after moving into Fuyuki City almost a year ago, she noticed the natural beauty of the area she lived in.

A flock of birds flew past her view, adding to the scenic view. She saw the pavement, the ancient look of the stone pathway that led to her house; she looked back up, there were the mountains, full of lush green trees and decorated with snow that seemed like cake icing on the very tips. She also noticed Ryudo Temple. The place

itself had always seemed odd to her, she just couldn't put the reason why.

She shifted her vision to the right of her, almost freaked about thinking about Ryudo Temple. She noticed the house next to her house. It had been vacant for years now and only recently been sold, although she had yet to find out to whom it had been sold to…

Movement had caught Rin's attention; a sleek black car had pulled up by the entrance of the house. The front car door opened as a figure dressed in a black coat and black pants exited the car. _He looks way too humble to be the owner of the house…_ Rin thought to herself. She was right, not soon after, the figure moved to the back doors of the car as he opened it and stepped aside. The first figure got out first, a girl with blonde hair, neatly platted at the back, looked around at first, then slowly made her way down the pathway only to wait at the entrance to the new house.

An arriving truck had caught her attention now. _It must be the delivery truck_. Rin presumed to herself. She was almost too curious about the newly arriving truck that she nearly missed out on the next person exiting from the car. This time it was a teenage boy, with what seemed to be unbelievably, in her perspective, whitish silver hair. _What an interesting look he has… _She thought to herself.

Rin took a step away from the window, realising that she had to go out later that day and was still in a mess, her hair wrecked and only in her pyjamas. Soon after, she ran to her wardrobe, grabbing her usual red long sleeve and black skirt with long black socks and rushed into the bathroom.

_Ding! _Went the doorbell for the front door. Rin hastily ruffled her hair once more, and then proceeded down towards the front door. She opened it and was surprised to see the two kids from next door over at her house, right in front of her. The two of them were surprisingly taller than she had imagined at first, the boy especially, being nearly a head taller than Rin.

Not only that, Rin also managed to see the boy properly for the first time, close up. The boy had quite a strong tan; in fact, it seemed his entire body had the same complexion as his face did. She also noticed that he had quite a distinct jaw line, and what seemed to her as an almost perfect face, not to mention the fact that he had eyes to die for.

She then noticed the blonde, with a straight fringe cut with the sides extending down to her bottom neck area; it seemed to suit her extremely well. She then noticed her eyes, which were a pure green colour that seemed to be quite odd since the two appeared to be brother and sister.

She thought amongst herself while checking the two out in front of her before she was brought into reality as the two bowed, to formally greet Rin. Rin bowed in return.

"Hello" The boy spoke, first to break the silence. "My name is Archer and this is my twin sister, Saber."

_HOLD ON A SECOND! Did he just say they were TWINS?? _Rin thought crazily.

"Yes, we are." Saber now talking. Rin had noticed now that she had made her face expression quite to obvious and slightly blushed at the fact that she seemed to overreact to the statement. Rin smiled, trying to hide it and then quickly spoke. "Hello, my name is Rin, Tohsaka Rin." She smiled before asking. "So, what brings you two over to my place?"

"Our parents told us to give this present to you as a sign of friendship."

_Hang on again… Parents? I didn't notice anyone else get out of the car… They must have gotten out after I went away… Yes, that's the only explainable way…_

She smiled again. "Oh! It must be quite uncomfortable standing out there! Please come in!" she gestured with her hand as they walked inside. "Please do sit down!" She then further gestured towards the large leather sofa as the two sat on the larger one and Rin locating herself onto the opposite, single seater sofa. There was silence… a very awkward silence, as the three eyed each other.

"So… Where have you come from??" Finally breaking the awkward silence.

"From Europe." Saber quickly answered. "We were brought up by Japanese parents, however, I do believe that our original parents were of European descent." She finally added.

"I see." Afraid that any more personal questions may ruin the friendly relationship they had just created. "umm… so will you two be attending school? Are you here permanently?"

"Yes, we are, our parents suddenly decided to take us down to Japan, specifically here…" Archer said, almost suggesting something. "I'm not too sure about what school but I think that our parents have their sights on the local school, Fuyuki Elementary."

"Oh! That's the school I go to!" Rin noticed the time. _Shit, need to go now… _" 'eyy look, I have to get going now, so sorry but I have a schedule to meet a friend, I'll catch you two later!" The three got up from there seats and the twins walked led themselves out as Rin rushed upstairs after seeing them off and grabbed her essentials and rushed out.

_What an interesting pair of twins…_She finally thought to herself… _I wonder if they'll end up coming to my school… and I still have to find more out on that Archer boy… _She giggled to herself as she picked up the pace and skipped cheerfully down the pavement towards Fuyuki City's urbanized central.

Chapter One – **Start**

Rin awoke to the piercing noise of the arm bell as she opened her eyes. Vision was almost blurry for a second as it took her eyes time to readjust to the suddenly new environment after sleep. She moved onto her side as she felt her hair fall over her face and into her eyes. She sluggishly moved one arm to flick it out of the way as she read her clock. "…7am… why would the alarm be going off this early…" she thought to herself… _CRAP. SCHOOL!_ She had almost forgot, the start of the school term was just about to begin.

She jumped out of bed, suddenly rejuvenated with a sudden burst of adrenaline rushing through her body. She pulled open her closet and grabbed her school uniform and a fresh pair of underwear as she rushed out of the room and into the shower.

--

Over on the opposite side of Fuyuki City, Emiya Shirou had finished getting changed and was now in the kitchen preparing his breakfast. The house felt so empty nowadays, with Fujinee sensei moving in with her new fiancé and Sakura suddenly moving out of the house, he entered and exited a house full of silence. However, this silence also had its advantages, allowing Shirou to think and reflect instead of Fujinee continuously shouting at Shirou. Also, it allowed him to get away with things such as never having a curfew, yet at times, he was jealous.

Shirou was unaware of the experience of ever having parents, losing them in a vicious Firestorm a decade ago that had engulfed and practically destroyed Fuyuki City, not to mention the inhabitants. The closest thing he had ever had to a parent was his foster father, Kiritsugu Emiya, who had incidentally "found" Shirou during the aftermath of the Firestorm. But now, even he was gone, and Shirou was left by himself, alone.

He slid his feet comfortably into his school shoes and made his way for school. It had been quite a long time since he had been down this path to school, mainly because of the holidays. He observed his surroundings, noticing that flowers had started blooming all over the place as spring had begun to set in.

He stood there, by the lights, waiting for the lights to set green so he could cross. The lights went green as the unmistakable noise went off and Shirou instinctively began to cross when something had grabbed his attention. He stopped, one foot on the road as he attempted to make out the incoming noise…

It was getting closer as he finally made the noise out. Police sirens, at least half a dozen of them as well. _That's odd… what's happening at this time of the day…??_

It was odd in fact, too odd. He took a step back as he watched the convoy of police vehicles race past his position. He watched ten police cars and two ambulances as they zoomed past. _Extremely odd…_

--

There was a sudden disturbance in her mind. _It has begun…_ she almost whispered to herself.

--

The school bell had gone just when she had entered the front school gates and Rin was racing down the hallways to her first period class. She desperately did not want to be late; after all, it was only the first day of term.

She swerved a corner, narrowly missing a passing student. She skid a few steps and then picked up the pace again and continued down the hallway. She looked at the signs, looking for her class, _K1… _She raced past. She was almost there, _only three more rooms to go! _She thought to herself as she glanced at the passing classroom signs. She came to a halt as she realised she had just made the class in time. She followed the last student in and took her regular seat at the back right corner of the class. Rin had purposely isolated herself from the rest of the guys, knowing that half of them were plain perverts and the other half complete weirdo's. The girls weren't much better, and Rin never seemed to fit into any girl groups from her class.

She looked out the window, thinking, as she cooled down from the dash she had gone through before class. _I should try and be more earli—_

She was cut off her thoughts.

"Class! We have another student joining us today, this is Archer-san! I want you all to give him a warm welcome!" As the teacher gave her hand out and indicating to the entrance of the door.

Everyone looked. Even Rin. In fact, she was the first to look, for an unexplainable reason. _Archer… that name…_ She had forgotten about their encounter during the holidays but her memory was enlightened as the figure walked into the room. She heard the girls on the other side of the room getting excited as the guys looked with disbelief.

Despite this, Archer entered the room with complete control, showing no facial expressions whatsoever. Again Rin noticed his unique white hair, spiking up and pulled back. The dark, yet attractive complexion and finally, the gorgeous blue eyes. _Rin! Control yourself! You're as worse as the rest of the girls in this class!_ Quickly, yet calmly, Rin relaxed back down into her seat, leaning back and tilting her head forward slightly to pretend not to care.

"Archer, please sit down next to Rin Tohsaka. If you need any help, Rin will be more than happy to help you, isn't that right Ms. Tohsaka??" Rin, unaware of what had been going on suddenly looked up, shocked.

"Pardon??" But it was too late. Archer was beside her already and looked to her.

"She said that if I need help, you will have to be helping me." He said with a slight teasing tone. Rin also managed to note the amount of arrogance in his voice. _He acted so much cuter the first time!_ She sighed as she sat back once again finally replying: "very well…"

--

Shirou took a bite of his sandwich that he managed to buy before the canteen que had gotten any bigger. He chewed on it ravenously, missing out on recess and having only eaten a bowl of rice which was to sustain him all the way till lunch. He felt a wave of relief over himself as he took a sip of his milk, the cold, refreshing substance making its way down his throat into his stomach. He relaxed and sat back on the table, unaware of the fact that the new student in his class was behind him, on the opposite seat of the table.

"Hi." She plainly said. Shirou, obviously startled by this, quickly turned around, to see who it was. He shifted his body around, and much to his surprise, there was the blonde girl, staring at him intently.

"Err… hello; umm… is there anything I can help you with??" Shirou quickly responded, attempting to hide his shock.

"My name is Saber!" even more so surprising than her greeting. She offered her hand as a sign of friendship, and Shirou, at first, hesitating—_Ah… I should stop dreaming… _Shirou thought to himself as he took another bite of his sandwich. He watched as Saber walked down to the never-ending canteen line as he thought to himself again…_ She is so… graceful and beautiful…_ He had only known her for four periods and already had a great liking towards her. He didn't know why. In his entire life, he had never had a real crush on anyone… Until now.

--

She let a smile creep across her face. _It was time…_ She thought to herself.

"Replenished already?" the violet eyed girl asked.

"Yes, and caused quite a fuss actually… Sirens went crazy—"

--


	2. Cherry Blossoms

Chapter Two – **Cherry Blossoms**

Rin had never been through this way to her house before. Not to mention that she had never taken note of the blooming pink flowers. The pink flower bearing trees had been arrayed along the pathway on either side, arching over at the top of the trees, creating an almost pink cave, with a touch of brown. A strong breeze fell through her surroundings, causing the branches of the pink trees' branches to sway. The breeze passed as dozens of pink-white petals fell from their origin of the branches.

_So… Beautiful… _Rin thought to herself as she stood there in complete harmony with nature. Slowly, she started to lower her eyelids, but to no avail, interrupted with an all too familiar voice.

"Gonna stand here all day?" Archer's voice full of arrogance. Rin swivelled on the spot and turned to face the tall figure. _His hair, it's so in harmony with the flowers…_

"Not in the talking mood? Is it the cherry blossoms?"

"So that's what there called… how do you know?"

"They were talking about these in class today. I'm assuming that you weren't listening." He let out a slight grin. _The attitude in this guy! _Rin thought to herself.

"Here." Archer produced a complete cherry blossom out of the blue and moved forward. Rin took a step back, hesitant at first. "What are you doing?!?" Rin almost cried out. But without a reply, Archer quickly took another step forward, bringing himself face to face with Rin and placed his finger on her lips. Rin knew she was blushing, the moment that he had taken those steps, she had felt the warm blood rushing into her cheeks. Now he was face to face with her, only inches away from each other and her heart was beating like mad. A long, deep silence passed as the two looked each other in the eyes until Archer finally decided to break the silence. "Here." He finally repeated, moving his hands up to her hair, firmly lodging the cherry blossom into her hair, gracefully and gently intertwining the flower's stem with Tohsaka's silky black hair. Rin let out a smile as Archer returned the favour.

--

The sun had begun to set, the petals continued to fall and the two sat there, on the mahogany bench.

"I don't believe we're this close, we only just met… I don't know anything personal about you at all…" Rin almost whispered.

"We're not. And why would I tell you any personal stuff anyway?" Archer replied defensively. Rin, trying to avoid the mess, quickly changed the subject.

"So, I've never seen your parents… What's up with that?" Rin inquired.

"I don't know." Archer replied shortly and unaffectionate once again.

"What is the matter!?" Rin was slightly annoyed now.

"What's it to you?? Since when do you have the right to know all this stuff?"

"Do you always have to be this cold?"

"What, and you would care?"

"YES, I DO!!" Rin blurted out. _Shit._ She knew she had let out too much emotion and she blushed wildly. Archer let out a small smile. "I mean, most people do…" Said Rin finally, trying to cover up over what she had almost shouted before.

"So how come you did what you did back then?" Rin finally managing to summon up the courage inside her to ask that question.

"Do what?" Archer asked. Rin knew that he already knew, and annoyance sparked in her as she knew that Archer was pretending to play dumb. Archer let out an arrogant smile as he waited for Rin's response.

--

"This is pathetic. And you call yourself a master? One who does not even have their servant around?" He chuckled to himself.

"I managed to observe, Kirei Kotomine, that you have one great flaw… arrogance."

--

"I have to go." Archer suddenly cut in.

"What? Why?" Rin asked.

"I just have to." He replied, getting up.

"But--" Rin was cut off as he stated sprinting off into the foggy night.

_Why did he have to go…_She looked at her watch then finally managed to notice the time. Suddenly aware of reality, she got up and walked into the darkness of the night.

--

_I shouldn't be acting like this. I cannot. It is the Holy Grail I want, not her. _The figure continued thinking as he raced past the obstacles in front of him. _I serve my master because I have to. _There was a bright white glow as the figure's image changed from on of Fuyuki City's school uniform to on of mystery, with a red cloak flapping wildly behind him.

Suddenly, he stopped, stealthy melding into his surroundings. And there she was. His master.

"We'll see who has the greater flaw…" Kirei laughed. "Attack! Caster, Rider! Attack!!"

"Two?" Her head tilted slightly to her right as her violet hair slightly shifted. "Hehe… This will be more fun that I thought!"

"Don't get so cocky that quickly!" Kirei shouted out as two images appeared beside him. One of them was wearing a black robe, covering the majority of her body, apart from her lower face, and had started chanting words as jet black monoliths appeared from the ground, surrounding the Caster type servant and her master.

The other servant had disappeared, deciding to take to the trees. Purple electricity had started spurting out around the black monoliths as long, snake like whips, coated in a dark black substance had started sprouting out. Dark electricity surged through to the tips of the snake like whips and Sakura knew at that moment that she had to fight.

"Very well… You have left me no choice…" On hearing this, Archer knew what had to be done. The tentacles whipped wildly, as there was a shift in movement as they lunged towards Sakura's direction.

"Rho Aias!" shouted a figure as it swiftly jumped in front of his master. Seven petal like shapes materialized in front of the two as the tentacles failed to penetrate the shield like defence.

"What trickery is this??" Kirei asked as a dark figure came in from Sakura's back. _He cannot win, he has used his defence already! Victory is mine! _Pivoting on the spot, Archer lunged himself forward putting himself between Sakura and the servant class Rider. There were two thuds as two knife like weapons had lodged themselves into the shield. Archer pulled with force as the offender soon became the defender. Throwing the shield aside, he summoned two signature swords, Kansho and Bakuya. Immediately, he threw the two, as the swords went wild, going left and right, seeming as though they were not going to hit, but instead, they curved as started to dip as Rider knew that she was in danger. The servant attempted to avoid the swords but was too slow as she was caught in the cross of the two swords, slicing at either end of her body.

There was a cry of pain from her as she fell to the ground, blood spurting out of the two open wounds.

_One down, one to go. _Archer smiled to himself as he formed another pair of dual Katanas. Slashing at the tentacles, he sent them into retreat and ran towards the black monolithic rocks. The remaining servant knew that there was no way that she could win against an Archer type servant without the element of surprise, but that element had gone from the very start of the battle. Realizing this, the servant dematerialized in front of the advancing servant, along with her master, Kirei.

Realizing that the fight was over, Archer walked over to the body sprawled on the ground, blood everywhere. For the first time, Archer managed to observe the figure. No doubt, this was the Rider class servant. She had purple hair that fell well past her feet. There was a type of black cover over her eyes and immediately Sakura knew who Archer had been fighting.

"Medusa. Finish her, quickly."

"Of course." Archer responded, producing a cone like sword and a dark black bow. The cone like sword glowed as it morphed itself into a shape of a thin, elegant arrow. He hated doing this, but he knew that Medusa would be back if they didn't finish her now. Placing the white arrow into the bow, he pulled the string back and paused for a moment. There was a slight shift in the cold night breeze as a sharper, stronger gust blew in. The trees shook violently as leaves flew by. Archer looked up at the almost blood red moon as there was a small thud and a sudden, sharp cry of pain. Rider's vision went blurry red as she felt her death near.

--

Rin noticed the red moon from the moonlight that had been flooding into her bedroom as she got out of bed and looked up at the night sky, unaware of any of the events that had taken place that night.

--

"Good work tonight." She finally said as they walked through the forest. Archer let the comment pass as he eyed every inch of the forest.

"What of my counterpart."

"Saber?"

"Yes."

"She'll fight the next battle… Or Berserker…" Archer twitched at this.

"What?"

"Don't worry, you'll get your wish fulfilled, just don't get too attached right now." Sakura let out an innocent smile.

--


	3. Memories of Loss

Chapter Three – **Memories of Loss**

Archer had never liked the idea of what his master, Sakura, had pulled off, but he had no choice. She was the only one that he knew that was a master in Fuyuki City. The whole idea of having more than one servant around… When she won the grail, what would happen to the servants?? He didn't really care about Berserker; after all, he didn't count as a human being, not to Archer anyway. But then he had thought about living here after the War had ended. To live life again, like a normal person, not one of lies and destruction. He could make that come true, he knew it, deep down, inside his heart he knew it, the only problem was with who was he going to create a new "contract" with.

--

"Trace on!" Shirou said to himself as he sat there, basking in the morning sunlight. And there he was, at 7-30 in the morning, on a school day, fixing a heater, one hour until school started. _What am I doing here…? _Shirou asked himself again but he knew the answer to that. He had promised Issei that he would help the student council fix its broken heater problem. Recently, the heaters around the school had been going a bit haywire and Shirou seemed to be the best man for the job. There was a loud clank as a red light went up on the side of the heater. _Ahh, finally… Now only ten more to go… Boy is this going to be annoying, but I must keep my promise, for Issei!_ Shirou thought to himself as he put his wrench into its toolbox and rose from where he had been sitting. Looking around at first, he grabbed his toolbox off the ground, slid open the door of the classroom and walked down the hallway.

--

Rin opened her eyes as she was greeted by the warm morning sunlight that flooded in through her window. Rin looked up slightly, looking at the last gift that her father had given to her. A large, red crystal which she had never seem to have any use for. Most of the time, she only seemed to have need for the smaller crystals while using her magic skills. Although she was not formally taught magic in an academy, Rin was as powerful as any formally taught magician would be, and at times, in her own rights, be better than one. Yet, until only recently had she started taking note of this mysterious and interesting attribute.

It was the weekend today and she had all the time to herself to do anything she wanted. As a model student should be, she had already finished all her given tasks and homework and now was in the situation of free time. _Not yet… it's too early…_She closed her eyes again, slowly as she dozed off once again.

Rin took a bite of the toast covered in thick, jam spread as she read an archaic looking book, with strange symbols engraved all over the cover of the book. Something made her stop chewing her bread. Her eyes widened as if in disbelief as she slowly put the piece of toast down. She arose from her seat as she slowly creased the top edge of the page and closed it carefully, as if it was even more ancient and fragile than it looked.

Rin sprinted upstairs, hair falling in front of her face as she went, but she paid no attention on if her hair was ruined or not, instead making her way to her dad's room, or … dad's old room. She stopped in front of the dark wooden door and stared own at the brass handle that had been untouched for almost two decades now.

A tear formed up in Rin's right eye as a sudden wave of childhood memories flooded her mind. She stood there, remembering all the joyful moments of her childhood life with her dad, together, in complete happiness. The tear enlarged as another formed in her left eye. More memories had started coming in now. She saw herself, on a swing, a smile from ear to ear, her eyes squinting in joy. Behind the child Rin was her father, tall and mysterious, yet for the occasion, putting on a smile and making Rin happy. _Oh the days… I just wish… But no…_ The tears grew to a size where the eyes could not contain them and they bypassed the eyes, as they fell, droplets of clear, salty water as two trails of nearly invisible tear water calm down across her cheeks down to her chin. _No, I cannot cry over it. It is gone now. Past._ She thought to herself as she started to wipe away the tears. _I shan't cry. Not now. I'm a big girl. _As she finished wiping any existence of tears off her face.

Finally, she slowly pushed on the handle, causing it to creak slightly, yet she did not hesitate, she would not. The knob handle would not turn any further and she pushed the door forward as she felt a small resistance on the push. The door slowly swung open as she felt a wave of cold, musty air rush onto her face and body. She closed her eyelids as she whispered a chant as an array of candles around the room came alight. _Just like it was when I had last seen it. _It was, due to the reason that the room itself had been left untouched, in recognition of her dad. Rin looked around the gloomy room. To her right she saw the same old king size bed, which seemed to have collected an inhumane amount of dust on its doona during the time of its silence. In front of her was a large table, where the majority of the candles had been arranged, and finally, in the very left corner closest to her, a dark and mysterious chest. _That must be it. _She thought to herself as she grabbed one of the wax candles, not afraid of any melting wax, since after all, it was a magic candle. Moving closer to the chest she noticed something that had been hidden in the shadow before she had moved light close to it. A large bench, full of more archaic looking books with the same type of design as the book that Rin had found that morning.

Ignoring this, she diverted her vision back to the chest, the main priority. On close inspection, the chest was more ornate than it had seemed. The chest had a thick, gold trimming around the edges and also where the lock was. Along the gold trim, engravings ran throughout it, as a vine would on a scaffold. However, unlike a vine, they did not have a very elegant pattern but instead were connected through small, engraved links, which connected the larger and more symbolic engravings together. She knew that she would never fine the actual key for the keyhole, but she could substitute with her spells. She placed her palm on the lock as she spread her fingers out while chanting softly. There was a moment as nothing seemed to be happening, and Rin stood there, confused, yet waiting for the chest to unlock. Then it came, the bright light, coming out of the palm of Rin's hand, she heard a distinctive metal clank as she knew that it had been done, the chest unlocked. Her palm was still shaking from the aftershock of the spell as she slowly clasped her hand together. Finally, she put her fingertips on the crevices between the chest's lid and the main body then pulled the lid up slowly as an almost ghostly wail crept out along with the creak of the opening chest. Finally the contents of the chest had been revealed, and the book that Rin had 'conveniently' found earlier had completed its job.

--

Shirou placed the long, metal tube in front of him as he observed it in its raw image that appeared before him. Placing his hand carefully on the top quarter of the tube, he closed his eyes, attempting to concentrate. _Trace…On! _He said to himself in his thoughts. A slight tingle surged through his body yet Shirou was unaware of what this sensation was and ignored it, instead continuing to focus on his goal. Putting irrelevant thoughts aside, he imaged the item in his mind. Slowly placing the metal tube down, Shirou opened his hands out, then pretended as though he was grasping another metal tube, but in reality, just thin air. There was a moment as the wind blew past, sweeping through the backyard shed, sending Shirou's hair slightly out of place. Ignoring this, he closed his eyes as, regulating his breathing to a slow and steady in and out. There was a slow glow, as a small outline of a long rectangle started to form, first, just bright light, but eventually turning into a strong, bright yellow-orange colour which became more defined. Slowly, yet as if almost expected, Shirou opened his eyes to watch his creation. A solid image started forming in front of him as he continued to keep focus on the image inside his mind, the original metal tube. The missing holes of metal had finally been filled up as he let out a sigh of relief, placing the tube down, next to the original version. He smiled to himself.

_Yes! I'm becoming more proficient at it now! I managed to create it in less than half the time it took me previously!_

Shirou rose from his original position of crossed legs and looked around. He heard the cry of a baby blue bird as it called out for its mother. He continued watching as the mother bird flew into the small, stick nest and watched the two birds interacting. He smiled for an unknown reason, then looked away, watching the dusty grounds outside the shed.

--

Her fingertips grabbed the right top corner of the page as the figure slowly pulled the page across, creating a slight noise in doing so. Rin had been reading since she had found the book, carefully and thoroughly reading through its valuable content. _This world… it's so new… this is what father meant…_

--

"_Rin! Quick! Up the hill!" I looked as I saw my father in front of me, atop the hill, open arms and a great smile on his face. Never in my life had I seen him this happy, never in my life had I seen him this playful, never. A strange thought crossed my mind…What if… Just maybe… This was his last-_

_No. I threw the thought away, to the deepest, darkest corner of my thoughts, where I would never look again, I didn't want to think about it, I couldn't._

--

A tear formed.

--

"_How long will you be gone for father?" I asked, curious of the sudden departure of my father._

"_Don't worry, I will be back soon, in time for the summer!" I saw as he forced a smile, tears starting to form. He crouched as he offered out his arms as I accepted and fell into the embrace of my father. _

"_Promise dad?"_

"_Promise."_

--

Another tear formed.

--

_I watched the leaves fly by the window in the autumn breeze. He had been gone for a year now. I could feel the tears in my eyes growing as I tried not to think about it. He promised to me! He promised! More tears as I felt the warm water slide down my face._

--

The tears rolled down Rin's cheeks as she sat there … remembering. Another thought crossed her mind as she forced the tears to stop and with an almost iron determination she spoke out loud,

"For vengeance."

She was ready for it now.

--

Archer felt the presence of it. It was huge, more than anything he could've imagined it to be. Even in his ethereal form he still had thoughts of fear in his mind. He watched as the colossal walking tank let out a vicious roar, stabbing violently at the dark, coarse dirt as it psyched itself up. The immense size of the creature gave itself away too easily.

Berserker.


	4. First Movement

_AQ - Sorry for the extremely long wait people but stuff happened xS, anyway, this is the fourth instalment, enjoy! Sorry again for the slow updating TT TT_

Chapter Four – **First Movement**

"Hey Sakura! Grandpa said for me to help you whether you like it or not!" Shinji called out with that unmistakably arrogant voice. Sakura stopped in her steps as she turned halfway to face her brother, a glint of annoyance flickering in her eye.

"Very well" She said finally after a moment of silence. A grin formed on Shinji's face, a childish one that Sakura knew only too well, something she would see for the very last time.

--

It was clear in Rin's mind. She had to summon the Saber class servant, the strongest and ideal class for the Holy Grail War as she had read from her father's diary. Known for their inhuman level of swordsmanship and unswathing loyalty to their masters, it was obvious to Rin why Saber was the best class to summon. It was only one of the two large heart shaped gems that she had left and knew better than put one of the only remaining presents from her father and her chance to win the grail to waste.

She had been looking around her house for some time now and had decided that the ideal place for summoning her servant would be in the basement, as it did not hold anything of utter importance at that time. Rin stopped at the entrance of the basement, looking into the darkness as it swallowed the staircase beneath her. Taking a step forward, she flicked the switch as a click sound went off, instantaneously lighting up the once dark room. Just like she had left it after he had left, untouched just as her father's room was. Rin took a step forward as she heard the wooden panel emit a piercing creak, straining under the tension and weight of the figure above it. There was a pause, as if Rin feared that the staircase she was above would collapse but she pushed that thought back away from her mind as she continued down the steps, creaking sounds emerging from every step she took.

--

Closing her eyes, she focused for that faint signal once more, scanning the area of the use of magic. She swept the city once more. Nothing. _Must've been a one off thing…_ Sakura thought to herself as she opened her eyes again. _Well at least my magic detection is- Wait. What was that? _Closing her eyes yet again she scanned once again. _The level is… it cannot be a human… not normal. It must be another contestant._ Sakura let out a small, sinister laugh. "What's so funny?" Shinji asked inquisitively. Sakura stopped. She knew she had to dispose of him soon. _But how… The temple… Before he finds out I have summoned anything yet… _She turned towards Shinji. "Sorry." She said politely, pretending, making Shinji feel superior. Sakura turned again and started walking, with haste, towards Ryudoji temple.

--

It was in mid sunset as Rin had finally finished her preparation of the summoning of her servant. This was it, whatever she had inside her, she had to use it now. The ritual had already started, the command seal's insignia appearing on the ground below. This was it.

--

"What are we doing here?" Shinji demanded.

"Investigating…" She trailed off as she turned a corner.

Shinji looked around him. He hated to admit it but he was lost.

"Damn it!" Shinji cried aloud. Knowing nothing of his surroundings he wished he had payed more attention in history class than just attempting to flirt with Rin Tohsaka. He couldn't just stand here and do nothing, he had to find Sakura and take control of the situation. Frustrated, he turned off in the same direction he had been coming from. He muttered a few words to himself as he turned a corner. Impatience built up inside him as he couldn't find the exit, let alone find Sakura.

"What's the matter brother? Lost?" Shinji stopped dead cold in his paths. _No it couldn't be… _

"Oh but it can!" Sakura replied as if she was a young girl playing around.

"Where are you?" Shinji let out with too much anger in his voice than he had intended to release.

"Patience is a virtue, brother." She said mockingly. Shinji was filled with rage. Patience meant nothing to him anymore. He continued, despite the constant voices of Sakura around her, ignoring them as much as he could. _When I find you, you're dead. _

"That's a bad and nasty thing to say!" with the same childish voice of hers.

A moment passed as panic filled Shinji's mind._ No, she's trying to trick me. I won't fall for her mere mind games. I will succeed and take control! _

"Remember brother! Patience is a virtue!" But this time it didn't sound just like a voice in his head. He spun to look behind him as he saw Sakura, standing there, smiling at him with a wicked grin. Behind her was a dark figure, tall and built with one eye as red as any ruby.

"What the-- …" Fear drowned his thoughts.

"You should see the look on your face! It's funny!" Sakura childishly said.

"This… this… it's not funny!"  
Shinji's mind was clouded with fear.

Fear of death.

There was nothing he could do in this situation; he had nothing to fight a giant with. Slowly he took a few steps back, stumbling slightly in his own panic and clumsiness. Sakura let out a laugh.

_That's it. I'm out of here!_

Shinji turned and bolted. He didn't look back. He didn't want to, afraid he would see the giant chasing him.

"Don't worry Berserker, we don't have to find him. _They _will."

--

It had been almost an hour and nothing had happened. She knew she had failed. 

--

"What?!? That isn't part of the plan!"

"I apologize mistress, but I do not know how it happened."

"But how can I lose her like that? … Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Someone summoned her."

"Explain?"

"Not now, it's not safe here. Later, at home, there I can also assess how she disappeared."

--

Two hours had passed and still nothing. Nothing. _I am a failure to my fa—_ Rin's thoughts were interrupted as the ground beneath her, the insignia started shining more intensely than before. Her eyes widened.

--

Sakura cried out in anger, sending the objects around her in disarray as her magical emotions unleashed her feelings in the environment around her.

"Someone has summoned her."

"What do you mean."

"I mean that a participant has summoned her."

"How?"

Sakura let out a sigh. "Well you see, in the Holy Grail Wars, they are organized by taking seven and only seven heroes from time. No more. No less."

"So what? Wouldn't that just mean that they would summon the other ones rather than her?"

"No, you see originally, I summoned you."

Archer ticked at the comment. _Not grateful. Tch._

"The way I got the other heroes, I cannot mention that at this time."

"Why not?"

"Because, I cannot. Now if you want to win this game, I suggest you follow your master, Archer."

"Oh, don't worry, I will."

--

"Yes! It worked!" Rin cried aloud, joy filling her. "But what did I summon?" She would soon find out.

--

"And what of their memory?"

"It depends on the summoner."

"Hmm?"

"A strong magician will summon a servant with ample magic power, allowing the heroes to arrive complete with their memories and identities, not only their skills."

"So if the magician summoning is weak…"

"Exactly. However, the summoned servant will usually be able to remember their memory in time."

Sakura had been careful. She had to be. Holding such a fragile yet complex plan on her hands required utmost loyalty. Obviously the Saber class servant had been summoned first, not Archer, but because of Saber classes renowned loyalty rates, she knew Saber would keep her mouth shut.

--

Rin was dumbfounded as the figure's outline appeared before her. The armour was the first to visualize completely. Silver with an elegant trim of blue and gold. Then, there was the regal blue cape, forming behind the figure.

Finally, the face.

The hair was a rich light blonde and the fringe cut straight at eye level, with the sides coming down below the figures jaw, the rest of the hair pulled back into a tight bun tied together with a Japanese looking hair pin.

Below the fringe, green blue eyes, that seemed as though they could get anyone's attention. And finally, the mouth. It was of a stern face and Rin thought of it as good. It reminded her that this was no game but a war and her plight.

"Servant class Saber. I ask you… Are you my master?" Rin paused for a moment, hesitant. Finally she drew up courage to reply.

"Yes."

"It seems that you have managed to summon me completely." Saber said with a cold voice.

"Then I ask you Saber, what is your real identity?"

--

He looked behind him once more, making sure they were gone. His hair had got in his eyes again and he desperately removed them. It was dark now and the _things _had been following him for hours. The sound appeared again, this time in front of him. For him.

For him there was no escape.

--

"My true identity is Arturia Pendragon, king of the round table and leader of my people in Camelot."

"I see. Let's get out of this room. Come upstairs for some tea?"  
"Whatever my master wishes." Saber followed Rin up the stairs, once again the creaking sounds imminent.

--

He hung there, from the ceiling. Blood dripping from his wound. He could taste blood in his mouth and knew it was the end of him. But he did not want to die. He was afraid. He struggled once more as the fearful thoughts invaded deeper into his mind. But it was no use. He was pinned to the ceiling by the hook dagger. The pain was immense as he struggled further, every small movement sending an excruciating sensation through his body. Yet he continued struggling. He did not want to die. Not now. Yet he stopped.

Noise.

Movement.

He looked around frantically looking for the source of the noise. "HELP!"  
he cried out desperately.

Suddenly he found himself, face to face with a masked figure, lean and covered in black skin tight clothes.

"You'll find no help here."

--

"Sakura. We must be careful of her."

"… Sa…Kura?" _The name rang a bell in Rin's mind._

"Yes. She was my original master, but now that she is no longer my master, all my secrets will be passed on to you."  
"I see. So why is Sakura so dangerous." _Sakura… my… friend…_

"She has many servants at her disposal. At the moment she is in the possession of an Archer class servant and a Berserker class servant."

"What? Two??"

"What my previous master was trying to achieve was the utter domination of all the other masters, which we should be doing as well."

"So then what do you find wrong about that?"

"She is using a method with no honour, her mind is corrupt. Filled with the greed of souls as she placed her hand on the Holy Grail at the church. She wants it, at any means."

"Now I see." A moment passed.

"We must defeat Sakura before she gets out of control." Rin finally said.

"Yes master, I will do my best."

"Yes, I know, you are the best in my eyes."

"Thank you."

--

"Tragic, isn't it? That was her brother. She even killed her own brother."

"What?"

"Sakura, killed her brother, at Ryudoji Temple."

"What? How do you know."

"I saw, just before you summoned me."

"What? But… how?"

"Even though she was my mas--"

"Oh, don't worry, I know."

Rin was still in her pyjamas as she jumped on the couch and flicked the television on. The large metal frame suddenly came to life as an image of the news came up.

"…To other news, this morning a group up Ryudoji monks managed to find the body of a Fuyuki City local, Shinji Matou. Authorities say the weapon used on the scene would have been a knife or sword--" The screen went black once more. Rin had had enough.

She got up and ran upstairs, school time.


	5. Berserker's Arc Part One

Chapter Five – **Sakura's Arc, Part One**

_AQ – To those who are reading and are confused, you will just have to wait for the plot to advance, especially for all those RinXArcher fans :P_

_Also, sorry for the very tacky ending with the "school time" thingy… I'll try my best not to let that happen again_

--

Darkness fell over Fuyuki City.

From the outside, the house was of traditional Japanese architecture, the classic bamboo sliding doors and wooden frames, but there was more to this house then met the eye. Oddly enough, as much as the house seemed fragile due to the older style of materials used to build it, the frames as well as the walls seemed to be as strong as any concrete or brick wall.

All thanks to Emiya Shirou.

Shirou was one of those people who didn't like letting anything go to waste, especially one of the only gifts his father had left behind.

Kiritsugi Emiya, his name was. Shirou had known from an early age that he was an adopted child. He also knew another fact.

His father was a magician.

When his father had died, many of his possessions had been removed as well, most under the command of Fujinee sensei, the teacher at Shirou's school that had been taking care of him before she left. But there were some things that she couldn't get rid of.

Before Kiritsugi had died, he had placed his remaining efforts in developing the one particular skill that Shirou had only been skilled at, known throughout the magi universe as "tracing".

Kiritsugi was always Emiya's idol. He had been since he had known father. He was an honourable man, and would never backstab anyone. Not only that, he was the only magi that did not use his skills to benefit himself alone.

Shirou could still remember vividly the night of Chinese New Year, 1996.

--

"_Huh?" I looked up with an inquisitive look on my face. I watched as my father smiled slightly._

"_Don't worry, you'll understand soon enough." _

_A long, meaningful silence passed. _

'_What did he mean by that? Knowledge is power?' I thought to myself as hard as I could, and without note my face scrunched up. _

"_What's up?" _

_I hid the face as if nothing had occurred and smiled at him._

"_Dad, what's your dream?" It just popped out._

"_My dream?" He let out a slight chuckle. "My dream will never come true… so don't worry."_

"_Tell meee" I whined as I pulled on my father's shirt._

"_Well… Okay. My dream--" He stopped. I looked up at him; his face looked full of melancholy. He noticed this fact and turned to me, giving me a smile and I smiled back instinctively._

"_My dream is to protect the world. To protect Fuyuki City at least." _

"_Wow! Cool!" 'I want to be the protector of justice! Like my dad!' I thought as he continued._

"_Shirou… Do you remember your parents?" His face had turned cold and depressed once again. It surprised me he would ask me something like that but I tried not to act it._

"_Sort of…"_

"_Well Shirou, what I'm about to say is crucial to your life… When I was young, I was filled with greed and lust."_

_I looked blankly at him but nodded to pretend that I knew what he was going on about._

"_That greed, lust… led me to doing stupid things. Very stupid things…" I could see him remorse over those thoughts. His face stern and cold…_

"_Shirou." He looked at me, straight in the eyes. _

"_Don't do what I did. Don't. Promise to be that you won't." I didn't know what he was going on about but I owed him my life. He saved me from that firestorm. He was my father. I would happily obey him._

"_Yes dad. I won't let you down."_

--

'I _CANNOT _let my father down!' Shirou thought to himself. All the memories flashed through his head, flashback after flashback. Then he reached the night. The night of his father's death.

--

_My life was gone. I was dead. Not literally but emotionally, psychologically, dead. Just dead. _

_I couldn't believe it. On the night I succeeded my hard training, after my father had protected me, countless times, I had let him down. _

_I was the reason for his death, a burden I could not bare._

_I had cried when I saw the figure in a black overall. Whatever it was, it was huge. And much more resistant than any man. I watched as my father came running in as he drew two swords from thin air. I thought he would win. He should have. I watched him throw them at the intruder as they sliced through the air hitting the target square on both sides.  
It did nothing. Nothing at all. I watched helplessly as the figure drew its own weapon from thin air, a large spear coated in blood red, swinging it towards Kiritsugi. Taking several steps forward as he readied himself for the killing blow. I wanted to move but I could not do anything. _

_There was a split second as my heart stopped. The spear went through my father's chest as I watched him stumbling backwards._

_That was when my father died._

_That was when the old Emiya Shirou died._

--

It then hit him.

_It was my fault._

_I called him over._

_I cried out like a coward._

_I killed Emiya Kiritsugi._

--

"_DAD!" I cried as I felt tears swell up in my eyes. _

"_Everything… will be… alright…" He let out a weak smile as I realised he was fading away._

"_DAD!! DON'T DIE!! PLEASE!" I pleaded._

"_Remember… Knowledge… Power… Imagination… Knowledge…" _

--

_Imagination? Knowledge? Power?_

--

_I was completely useless. I cried for my dad as I felt the warmth of his body rush out of him. I knew he was dead. _

_My life._

_My saviour. _

_My Father._

_I cried and cried, I couldn't help myself. _

_And finally the painful memories hit me. The good times we had had together. The times when I felt all I needed was my father. The feeling of his arms around me. I felt so safe. And now… I felt… insecure… and dead…_

_I remembered as he would swing me from the swings in the playground. _

_I remembered he made the best fast food ramen. _

_I remembered he had taught me how to use magic._

_I remembered how he would hug me on a bad day and things would go back to normal._

_I remembered… _

_HE WAS MY FATHER._

_MY FAMILY._

_I couldn't bear to lose my father. As much as I cried I knew it would not bring him back._

_But I cried. Cried as a waterfall of tears cascaded down my cheeks onto my father's cold face._

--

"No point crying over spilt milk." Shirou said aloud, his voice shaky. _I have to perfect this, no matter what, for my father. _  
Shirou closed his eyes as he concentrated, concentrated hard. He didn't know what he was doing but he concentrated on his father. As hard as he could.

Summon the most powerful thing he could. Just like his father, summon whatever he could. Like his father, summon the weapons. _I am doing this for my father, for the people that need protection around the world! _Shirou thought to himself.

He felt a surge through his body but ignored it, as if an electric current had gone through his body.

_I have to concentrate._

Ignoring it, he continued, feeling more and more pulses through his body.

_I MUST…_

Finally the pulses had dispersed, instead he felt his entire body tingled as the strange sensation returned, running throughout his body.

His body. His blood. It flowed with the mysterious surge of power. He felt it running through his body. He felt his fingertips being forced out, straightened, in front of him. Slowly his eyes opened as he saw a large object covered in light. It was so bright he could not continue. It was blinding him.

The light illuminated the entire house as the beams of light sent the light waves bouncing off, molecule after molecule, out into the house, lighting up almost every room possible.

The light stopped as the vicinity around Shirou went dark.

--

"Wha-What was that??" Saber and Rin stood alert like motionless statues.

"Whatever it was, it was _Huge_." _The mana level was enormous._

"No doubt…" Saber trailed off.

"No doubt what?"

"No doubt that whatever it was… Sakura probably felt it to. Probably found it as a challenge…"

--

_I…had…_

_Failed. _

He slumped in the basement of the house, defeated as dust gathered around him.

_No… I cannot give up. I WILL not give up. It must just be that I have not trained enough on my basics yet._ Refusing to accept defeat, Shirou rose then stumbled back, falling onto his knees. The magic had sucked all the energy out of him, and Shirou lay there, expended.

He was breathing heavily now and he felt sweat droplets appearing on his brow.

_Cannot…_

He rose slightly, taking a clumsy step forward and then another. Eventually, he had tediously dragged himself to the outside shed. It was a large, separate building that contained numerous garden tools, including spades, pitchforks and axes, ideal weapons to practice his magical abilities on.

--

"Quickly."

--

Shirou lie there exhausted from the level of mana he had been using, unable to even take a step.

--

"Shirou's house?"

--

_What was that? _Shirou's mind raced from the noise outside. Activity. Heaps of it too.

--

"Shit Berserker, can't you be anymore quieter?" Sakura whispered not expecting an answer from the thick beast.

--

Slowly Shirou rose, grabbing the tool closest to him, an axe. Struggling slightly, he rose to his feet. He could feel himself, weakened, but there was no other option.

--

"There!"

--

"Sa-Sakura?" The familiar voice ringing a bell. But there was no reply. Shirou looked more closely at the figure, but quickly shifted his view to the charging giant in front of him. Shirou threw the axe in his hand as a futile attempt to halt the rampaging beast but to no avail, only being flung out wildly by the monster. "No… No way…" _This was the end for me… after all I tried…_

_I really did…_

_Fail…_

--

"Finish it!" Sakura cried out, her voice staggered.

--

_No… Just one more time… Maybe…_

_I cannot die without a fight… I …_

_Will…_

_NOT…_

_FAIL._

He felt a familiar surge, and welcomed it as he relaxed his entire body, tension released, and rather instead left in a state of obliviousness towards any pain from his strained body. This was it. Either he succeeds or he fails. And again, he felt his hands pushed forward, his fingertips spread out but this time there was no resistance. He had to have faith in himself, and so he let everything come out naturally. He felt the warm light again, even though he did not know what it was, it did not matter, this would defeat the enemy, or so Shirou presumed it would. He took a quick glance at the monster through his peripheral vision, it was closing in and fast, obviously not blinded by the rays of light that were being created, its large cleaver raised in the air. 

Shirou braced for impact, placing his legs slightly on an angle, his weight behind the object. It was complete, resembling a large, bright shield, yet it seemed to have no definite body, rather a mere illusion, yet he stood his ground, having faith in himself. His body left the state of calmness as he returned to reality and fate. Now only several metres away he felt fear running through his body, sending chills throughout him. _This was it_… He thought to himself. He watched as Berserker lifted his gargantuan cleaver. There was a split second, as he felt his own heart beat, _Thud, Thud… _  
And then it came. Judgement. He felt the force. The power, the force behind it impacted with the illusive shield. The strength surged through the shield and hit Shirou at the end, as if it was a pendulum, just transferring force from one end to the other. On the receiving end Shirou felt entire body shake, and could not resist the power any longer, as he lost his footing and flew back. Shirou felt a sharp pain through all of his back, which reassured him he had landed on ground. He felt no use in fighting further. He had lost. He accepted that fact now, yet something inside of him stopped him from giving up. _I do not want to die like this! I do not want to die lying on the ground! But what can I do!? _Shirou felt frustration and anger. Anger from his state of weakness, helplessness. The anger and frustration exploded throughout his body which caused him to naturally cry out. "NO!" His voiced boom. Sakura seemed shocked and even the giant had stopped in his path. _Why had they stopped? Surely a mere cry would not scare something as sturdy as that! _Then Shirou felt it too. A tingle on his right arm as he saw strange symbols appearing on his hand.

_What!? What is this? _He looked at his own hand in disbelief.

"Quick!! Before his servant is summoned!" Sakura commanded. The Berserker let out a deafening roar as it raised its cleaver, readying for the killing blow.

--

_I really wonder what he would have summoned… _Sakura thought to herself. _Too late now… _

--

There was a large crashing noise coming from the shed, the same one that Shirou had recently emerged from, and he was not the only one to notice. The giant twitched his head slightly before turning back to Shirou. Shirou looked up, as he watched the cleaver, like a guillotine as it came slashing down. Shirou instinctively shut his eyes, fearing his life's end.

The sound of steel against steel rang throughout the air. _Huh? _Shirou's eyes opened wide, only to find himself staring into a large red cape. Then he finally realised he was still in his sprawled status. Hastily he picked himself up on his feet and finally took a proper look at his saviour. His saviour was the same as any other human. Yet there was something about him that made Shirou's mind ring a bell. _But what…? _Shirou thought to himself. "Quick. What do we do now?" The figure finally spoke, in a slightly cool toned voice. But Shirou was too slow to reply, the giant already in the air, launching its second attack. Immediately he saw his saviour yet again jump out in front of him, his swords raised in a defensive stance. _That was it! The swords! _"DAD!"

Shirou let out through impulse. The figure flinched slightly and looked back at Shirou, but not the look he had expected. _No, it had to be my dad… _A look of unfamiliarity came on the red caped figure's face. "LOOK OUT!" But it was too late. Shirou's comment had given enough time for Berserker to get the servant when his guard was down. There was a silence for a split second, then the sound of breaking bones as Shirou watched the body fly lifelessly to the right, and then finally slammed into a large fig tree. The figure hit the tree with a straight back, as he saw the victims face, blood trickling from his upper lip, yet oddly enough, a slight smile crept along his face, then finally slumped forward, showing no signs of life. _A Smile!? Was this guy insane? _But he had no time to ponder through his thoughts, noticing the titan's approach as a sinister grin crept across his face…


	6. Berserker's Arc Part Two

Chapter Six – **Sakura's Arc, Part Two**

_AQ – School is so very … tedious:S My sincere apologies YET AGAIN. TT TT_

_Anyhow, without further adieu, Chapter Six. Everything will be explained in time …_

The leviathan lumbered forward, its red eyes glaring directly at its helpless victim.

There was no escape.

Lifting its cleaver high in the air, it prepared for the killing blow, definite that Shirou had run dry of luck, as it let out a deafening roar of triumph, causing Shirou to shut his eyes, hoping it would be over in a flash.

There was a sharp, distinct pain in his right shoulder blade causing Shirou to cry out as he felt his own body flying through midair. There was another sharp pain, but this time the source originated from his head as he opened his eyes, only to witness his vision blur and fade.

--

The afterlife was not as bad as Shirou had imagined it to be, yet it was no difference to him. His only problem now was to face his father, to confront his failures face first. He observed his surroundings like a tourist would, taking everything in, millions of thoughts swimming through his mind, thoughts of the final confrontation, of what would become of him, of his final moments on Earth, all as he floated gracefully through space. Yet it was not as welcoming as it first seemed to be; now he felt the coldness around him, there was no heat. He had also felt how heavy his body had become; turning into a struggle each time he attempted to move any of his limbs as he floated adrift.

Then he felt a familiar feeling.

Warmth.

And there it was, the end of the road. The ever-growing light as he slowly, yet inevitably ventured forward. He was only an arms length away as he saw a shadowed figure emerge from the light. "Father!" he called out instinctively pushing his arms outward in the direction of the mysterious figure. Shirou felt the touch of the figure as it slowly wrapped its arms around him as a fuzzy feeling surged throughout Shirou, reminding him when he was still an infant. The tight grip had gotten tighter now as he felt the warmth becoming even warmer. The figure had lighted up, its entire entity white as Shirou struggled to remove himself from the vicelike grip that the figure had around him, slowly heating up its own body, causing a searing sensation to burn around Shirou. Shirou felt like he was hugging the sun, the heat now unbearable as he flailed to back away, yet the figure refused to release him. Common sense re-entered his mind as he felt the urge to live increase, like any normal human being would, flailing more wildly and finally he felt the grip loosen and finally release him as Shirou kicked wildly against the figure, using it as a platform to push off, back into the darkness…

--

"He is awake," Alerted Saber.

"Good," A voice came from down the hallway, "Get him some food and water."

"Yes, Master." She answered. The figure rose, glanced down at a bandaged Archer and walked out of the room, returning minutes later holding a tray full of steaming dishes and a large bottle of water. "Time to eat." As Saber placed the tray beside the immobile figure. Another minute passed and finally Saber broke the silence. "Rin, I might need your help," She called out, "Looks like Archer got damaged badly…" Her face grim.

Another moment as Archer's eyes finally moved, looking around him to evaluate his surroundings. Suddenly his body jerked as a sharp pain ripped through his lower back, causing him to become motionless yet again. Saber remained still, only opening one eye to watch. "Coming!" A shout hollered as a familiar figure came rushing in. Archer's eyes widened in disbelief as his entire body jerked again, yet this time much more wildly, causing the tray to move next to him. "You can go tend to Shirou now," Rin said as she sat down next to an extremely jerky Archer.

"Hi!" She finally said as she neatly placed the tray back to Archer's side as she grabbed a spoonful of rice and offered it to Archer. Archer struggled to reply but his jaws did not respond as the spoonful of rice hovered ever closer. He felt the warm spoon touch his lips and instinctively pulled back, however not as far as he would have liked as pain stabbed at his upper ribs forcing out a loud, distinct grunt. Archer noticed Rin's expression, her playful and innocent face non existent, hidden behind the stern jaw and determined eyes. Archer almost felt a chill wave through his body as he stopped struggling fearing the consequences of any further outbursts.

"Much better!" as her strained face loosened, letting out a joyful smile. "Now say _Ahh_," Rin said as if a dentist. Archer's face answered back, showing no signs of cooperation. "Looks like I'll have to do it myself…" She sighed as she carefully placed her soft fingertips on Archer's mouth, moving her fingers as light as feathers over his tanned skin, causing a strange and unfamiliar sensation to fill Archer's thoughts. Rin noticed, letting out a grin as she seized the opportunity. "What's the matter Archer?" She teased, "You don't seem as composed as you did last time." Archer, usually used to being in control of any situation, was now on the receiving end of the situation. _Karma. _He said to himself as he felt the anger swell up from inside of him. The anger surged through his body and eventually Archer took advantage of this as he attempted to utilise his new found strength into moving his body. He let out a grunt as Rin snapped a glare at Archer, yet curious at the same time, then without warning, she felt the tray of food underneath her slide as Archer's body rose, causing the blanket that was originally over him to pull up in synch with Archer's ascent. Finally Archer pushed his chest out in triumph. "Ha!" He cried out as he let out a victorious smile. Suddenly he felt the anger and power had disappeared with the rise to victory, leaving him in his extremely unstable state yet he was confident but again interrupted by a worried Rin Tohsaka.

"Archer! Wait! Don't move too--"

But it was too late as Archer took a step forward and almost simultaneously stumbling on his fragile leg as he lost his balance and fell towards Rin, yet on his descent he felt swift arms secure him before hitting the ground as he felt Rin's body now against his, her arms wrapped around his shoulders, and for a moment the two were locked together, motionless, staring into each others' embrace. Finally Archer's arrogant initiative broke the silence. "I didn't really need your help…" He let out a small grin as Rin's face flushed a deep red and almost aggressively dropped Archer to the ground. "Hey, if you're gonna do something, do it properly!" Archer let out defensively yet also mocking Rin at the same time. An inferno of anger swept over Rin as she put her head down, her neat fringe now slightly dishevelled, falling over her eyes as a completely different Rin formed. "Watch what you say Archer." Archer winced back at this as he felt for the first time in his life, fear of a mortal. "Remember that you're the one on the disadvantaged side. You and your master would be dead if it wasn't for us." And with that she stormed out of the room, leaving Archer reminiscing among his thoughts about what Rin had just said.

_What does she mean master…?_

--

"What are we going to do?"

"We'll have to wait."

"My noble phantasm should have slain him on the spot."

"Hmm…" Rin rose as she walked out of the living room only to return moments later holding a large, archaic book.

"Heracles," She finally explained, "The hero of Greek mythology…" She continued, "Ah, here we go." Her facial expression turned grim, "Noble Phantasm – God Hand, the Twelve Labours, allowing himself to regenerate fatal blows up to eleven times before dying" Saber's face went pale as her jaws clenched.

"Don't worry, we'll find some way—"

"Some way to what?" The demanding voice asked.

"Shirou! You're awake! Are you ok?" Rin asked sympathetically.

"Find some way to what?" Shirou asked, ignoring Rin's question completely, his voice hinting desperateness.

"To beat Berserker."

"That thing has a name?" Shirou asked, surprised.

"Yes? Don't you know that?"

"Quite frankly I don't know anything at the moment." Rin and Saber shared a glance of concern as Rin turned back to Shirou.

"The Holy Grail War. You're in it."

"What's that?" Rin and Saber shared another glance, using their facial expressions to talk for them.

"The Holy Grail War," Rin explained, "Is a war between seven people, or to say more precisely, magicians." Shirou jerked uncomfortably at this and Rin had seemed to notice the reaction. "What?" Rin inquired.

"Nothing, please, continue." Shirou answered weakly.

"These seven magicians summon one servant each, for example, my servant is the Saber class servant." Rin continued.

"Class?" Rin let out a sigh as she explained.

"There are seven servant classes, Archer, Rider, Lancer, Berserker, Caster, Assassin and Saber, each having unique traits, strong points and weak points." Shirou let out an expression of confusion. "So they don't have names? They have no identity?"

"They are real people, like you and me, however they are heroes from time and history and are summoned by the seven masters. Each servant has their own identity and noble phantasms," Shirou opened his mouth but Rin continued, already aware of his question. "Noble phantasms are unique skills that the actual Hero has, such as Berserker's real identity being Heracles, a Greek hero, whose noble phantasms is having twelve lives."

"What!?" Shirou blurted out.

"However that's not the biggest thing we need to worry about at the moment." Saber cut in before Rin could speak.

"Ah yes. Shirou, you do realise that now you are part of the Holy Grail War, as I am." Rin eyed Shirou carefully, watching for his reaction. Shirou remained still as he listened, waiting for the punch line. Silence followed as the two looked at each other seriously until Rin broke the silence.

"You and I are contestants."

--

It had been almost a week since the Berserker incident yet Archer's psychological state was still slightly unstable, suffering from the occasional memory blank, as well as the loss of all long term memory, however physically he was as strong as ever. Rin had been treating him everyday since the day her and Saber had found him half dead under the large oak tree. During Archer's time recovering from his unstable state Rin and Archer had developed an even stronger bond than before, even stronger than between Rin and her servant, Saber. She knew she shouldn't have, and Archer wasn't blind either yet by each passing day the bond had grown stronger and stronger… Rin did not know what was drawing her, or why she was even interacting with her enemy but something about Archer drew her closer by each passing day yet inevitably the day came as Archer had fully recovered, they day which Rin had feared the most.

It all happened one peaceful morning as Archer's eyes opened slowly, to find Rin sitting beside him, right on schedule with his breakfast and the same cheerful smile. Everything was normal, so far. He returned a smile and levered himself forward so he was facing her, his smile still evident. Yet to Rin's surprise the smile faded quite abruptly as his facial expression went stern, his jaws tight. At first Rin thought he was just going through a flashback, like he frequently did yet something made her doubtful of her explanation to his behaviours. She looked over his face, trying to solve the expression on his face as Rin noticed his eyes causing a shiver to zip through her body. Archer's eyes had become much more vigilant than before, and his eyes much sharper than usual. But that was not what had shocked her, rather the pupils, as she noticed a great depth in them, like a dark and mysterious maelstrom which aroused her curiosity. That was not normal. "Archer?" Rin finally asked, unsure if she had said the right thing. He did not reply, breaking off eye contact as he rose to his feet, his back towards Rin.

"Come walk with me." Archer finally said, yet Rin noticed the lifelessness in his voice, as she warily followed by his side.

They had been walking for some time now and after a tiring and slightly awkward walk, they finally stopped beside a familiar mahogany bench as they sat in unison taking in their environment. Long, awkward minutes followed until finally, Archer broke the silence.

"We shouldn't. I shouldn't." Archer said, his mouth tight as the words came out. Rin looked at Archer then smiled pathetically.

"I can't help it."

"Try at least." And with that Archer's body stiffened as he placed his hands on his sides, readying himself to leave but Rin placed her hand on his as she looked him in the eyes. "We will find a way out of this, I promise." As she moved closer, her face inches away from his. Archer turned to face Rin's eyes, yet only for a moment, as he turned away, sliding his hand away from her, ascending gracefully as took a few steps forward before Rin's arms flung around his body, attaching herself to him, yet Archer resisted, opening her interlocked hands as he continued to walk away, yet to Archer's surprise he felt the same familiar arms around his body, but this time he heard the soft cry as Rin buried her head into as much of Archer as she could. Archer stood there, absolutely still, facing away from Rin, yet deep inside of him he could feel the drilling pain for his forbidden love, boring deep until it caused him to shed a tear, forming at the corner of his left eye until it hurtled down his tanned cheek then the remanence dripping off his jaw line.

_How unlike me __to act like this, to think of someone this way…_

He looked up into the sky, attempting to ignore the thoughts and feelings as he noticed the sky stained a deep burgundy red and reminded him that he would be dead one way or the other. He had to get this over and done with now as he slowly unlocked Rin's grip over him and turned to her, staring into Rin's eyes. They were so flooded with tears that he could not see the pupil properly. He knew he had to let go. "I'm sorry Rin." He almost whispered as he released her grip with almost no resistance. He looked her in the eyes once more, for a brief moment, and then turned away. Rin watched in melancholy as Archer strode off at a brisk pace.

He didn't look back.

Rin stood there in the afternoon breeze, letting the atmosphere swallow her whole. It did not matter to her anymore. Her warm, welcoming fire had now transformed into a searing and dangerous blaze and left a large gaping hole where her heart had been. Half the sun had disappeared behind the horizon and the pink cherry blossoms had now turned a more fiery crimson colour as the breeze grew into a gust, blowing numerous petals off the trees as they drifted gracefully around Rin's motionless body. Rin was filled with rage, yet there was no effort to release it, there was no will to, overwhelmed by the depression of Archer's departure.

Almost an hour had passed and nothing had changed the slightest bit, Rin still in her unstable state. _All this time… He must have been using me… The one person I ever loved and cherished… _Anger fumed underneath layer of depressive emotion. "He… used me…" Rin whispered out aloud. The anger was too great to suppress anymore as depression turned to fury. _He will pay for this. _She thought as she clenched her fists, and with that she awoke to reality, finally aware of her situation, aware of the tears she had been shedding, aware that there was no point of crying over something that was gone. She straightened her back as she swiped the last remanence of wetness from her eyes.

_No mercy_, she thought at last.

--

They had left just as subtly as they had entered the house, the two females, entering quickly and quietly, grabbing their belongings and leaving, as if it was a mission, as if it were a war, and it was. Now that Rin had made her mind up Archer was her first priority on her hit list. She had made her mind up that she didn't really want to kill Shirou as well since removing Archer would mean only losing one soul as well as Shirou's right of participation in this war, yet doubt filled her mind. Could she really kill her one true love?

It didn't matter anymore. Rin and Saber had a far worse threat to face. The large gargantuan let out an ear deafening roar as he offered a barbaric challenge, pointing directly at Rin who disappeared behind her servant Saber, readying herself in a defensive position.

Berserker was back and with a vengeance.


	7. Berserker's Arc Part Three

Chapter Five – **Sakura's Arc, Part Three**

**Last Words**

_AQ – __the AQ is at the end of the story…_

--

Rin's plan had backfired, and now another addition to the never ending pile of ruined plans, including any future with her one love, 

Archer. 

But that did not matter anymore as a more pressing concern stood iron footed in front of them. There was no easy way around it, not this time. Sakura stood motionless in the nightfall, the moonlight flooding onto her and causing a distinctive contrast between shadow and light. She let a smile creep across her face, and almost simultaneously, as if they could communicate to each other telepathically, Berserker charged, this time placing its cleaver in a lance like position as it stormed towards Saber. Rin knew that her servant could never withstand that much strength so she ran for cover, knowing what was to come. There was a split second as the two servants almost touched but Saber had anticipated one step earlier, leaping to the left at the last second. Rin couldn't help looking up to see if Saber had survived and a sigh of relief escaped her body as Saber shot her a quick glance. But there was not much time left before the next strike as Saber footed herself into a more agile position, yet before Berserker had started charging again Rin let out her own, almost wicked smile. "Now Saber, show me what you've got!" Saber let a smile of her own creep across her face, 

"Yes Master!" Saber holstered her invisible blade at her waist, readying herself for Berserker to charge again, and again as he came into a blades length of Saber she dodged to the right, yet this time twisting on her feet and raised her arms up to strike the bare back of Berserker. Berserker could only turn off balance, its cleaver clumsily up in the air at a feeble attempt to block the course of Saber's blade, its eyes watching as the sword Saber was holding finally appeared, however only a flash, as the sword went slamming into Berserker's large cleaver, the force behind the blow sending Berserker off his feet, and Saber did not let the opportunity pass, sending another powerful blow, this time a broad uppercut creating a hurricane like wind behind the blade, as Berserker was sent sky rocketing into the air. Both Rin and Sakura stood in there in disbelief, and continued to awe as Saber prepared for her finishing combo blow, leaping high into the air as she raised her sword once more, yet this time Saber revealed her sword for a longer period of time, the golden trims of the blade shimmering in the moonlight. The sword shimmered brighter and brighter until eventually there was no more intricate details to be seen, instead a blazing light, its outlines resembling that of Saber's blade. There was no speech as Saber slashed downwards at Berserker's rough body, only a sharp, loud grunt from Berserker.  
It was all over in a flash, one second Saber slashing Berserker in midair, the next, a large eruption of dirt as Saber gracefully landed near the clearing dust. Saber readied herself, moving back into a more defensive stance as the dust settled down. She of all people knew Berserker's most successful, and also powerful noble phantasm, allowing Berserker to regenerate from even the most fatal injuries. As the dust settled an almost ear-deafening roar boomed from Berserker, and finally, as all the dust particles dissipated into the atmosphere Rin saw why. Berserker was healing at an astonishing rate, watching the running wound turn to a scab in almost a second, and soon after forming a light scar where the wound _had _been. There was a moment as Saber grimaced slightly, her grip on her weapon become slightly weakened, then finally readjusted to the new situation as she raised her sword high and strong, directly facing Berserker as if it were a Kendo match. Berserker rose to its feet, all the damage it had sustained in its 'previous life' all but invisible. 

And the conflict continued, yet this time Berserker was wary of its surroundings, striking fast and accurately, yet carefully restricting itself from any wild lunges. The battle had been raging on for longer than both Masters had expected and Sakura's temper had flared up, or more accurately, her 'new temper' that she had developed during the time of the Holy Grail War. Sakura could not suppress herself any longer as she whipped out a sharp, brutal command. 

"Finish it now! I don't care if you have to waste anymore of your lives! Just DO IT, regardless of the pain!" Berserker twitched slightly, falling slightly out of pace as it stared at Sakura, its facial expression scrunching up as its thoughts lingered on the last phrase. It stood there for a moment, its face full of confusion as it finally reacted with a cry of defiance, its entire body composure tensing up as it acted on instinct, however Saber was quicker, using the confusion to steal up a few paces without Berserker realising, preparing for her next strike. It turned back to the immediate threat, and again caught off foot as Saber slashed horizontally, sending flesh and blood flying from the wound the blade had just carved out. Another cry of pain as Berserker reacted violently, out of instinct, the very thing Saber had planned for him to as she artfully dodged the backlash of Berserker's cleaver, moving underneath the thick arm and for a moment time slowed. Saber felt the aura of heat the body was generating, the stench of the sweating body and the fear, the fear in Berserker's eyes. It closed its eyes as a sickly crunching pain echoed as Saber impaled her sword through Berserker's iron-like chest. Another cry of pain, yet this time it extended into a long howl. Saber stood strong and steady, pushing further until the entire blade had pushed through as she placed her legs on Berserker's body, pushing herself away, the invisible blade retreating with her. The intensity of the howl seemed to have increased as the sword ripped out of the chest, Berserker now curled to the side as if it was cold. Saber raised her arms slowly, ready to decapitate her. "Give me the word, Master." 

"Good work, but there is no need, not yet." Saber winced at her, confusion sweeping over her face, drowning out all the enthusiasm on her face. Yet Saber had no time to think as her thoughts were interrupted, but not by whom she expected. This time it was Sakura who had intervened, her face full of anger, impatience. "Regenerate yourself! Don't die on me!" She cried out. Suddenly all eyes were on her and Sakura realised why now. They could end this, right here, right now and slowly, cautiously she started backing away, trying not to make any sudden movements. Then something bizarre caught all three of their attentions. It was Berserker as he twisted on its body to face the other direction, directly at Sakura. No one dared move an inch as Berserker struggled to open its mouth as it started talking, something that none of them had expected. The voice was coarse and deep, yet it had with it a tone of wisdom as it spoke its last words. 

"For once in my life… Just once I thought I had finally received a master not filled with greed… I guess I was wrong… I'm glad I am leaving this world…"

"Wait! Before you go--" and all eyes turned towards Rin, surprised. All except Berserker who remained facing the other way, waiting.

"I want to know. I want to know why you… you didn't turn on your master instead." Rin hesitated as she glanced carefully at Sakura who sent her a vicious glare back. Yet Rin did not look back as she waited for her answer. 

"I would have… But look at me now…" Berserker chuckled darkly to itself as its body relaxed; knowing its time on this world was enough. 

"Wait! Just one more thing!" Berserker waited, patiently. "I want to know why you did not regenerate your life again."

"My life is but a tool to a vicious and malevolent monster. What good was it if _we _won…? Just maybe I had thought I could become human… I could live one… But… she was not the Sakura I knew and loved… She has changed…" Berserker said coughing out the last parts. Then it hit her. _I could live on… _

She stood there, the words bringing new thoughts flooding into her head, new ideas and more importantly, a new conclusion. 

--

Things had been wrapped up nice and quick, Berserker allowing _his_ life to move on into the ethereal world as they let Sakura go, letting her remorse in her own world too, and consequently allowing Rin some alone time to ponder through her thoughts. Thoughts that would be otherwise forbidden if not for her free time she had at hand. Thoughts that constantly flooded her mind, thoughts causing distress, anxiety. Thoughts of _him_. 

The seconds ticked by as thoughts soon turned to dreams as Rin drifted away into her slumber. Seconds into minutes. Minutes into hours and eventually night became day, moon became sun and Rin had awoken, tears dry on her face, leaving Saber one conclusion, she had cried herself to sleep. However Saber knew not to ask her about it, instead simply ignoring it, going through meditation, to give Rin time, after all, she was only human. 

_How could I stop thinking about him? I couldn't, and I still can't__. Why oh why does he have to leave? Why do things have to be this way? Why? _

Rin felt the tears swelling up again and this time there was no suppression. She knew there was no point to stop it. She had tried last night and to no avail, and so the tears rolled down her cheeks like waterfalls as she sobbed silently on her bed, the thoughts, the memories.

_The day he left me… the day he—_

Rage consumed Rin whole like fire on oil. Rin wiped her tears away, her face now red with anger. 

_No remorse. Not now._

There was a soft knock on Rin's bedroom door as Saber entered cautiously, yet knowing she was in no harm, the daily session of reminiscing over. Rin glanced over to her servant as another thought crossed her mind. _I wish I could be like Saber, to fight on without worrying about the pain… To be strong… _Rin smiled weakly, "Looks like I better get up, don't want to keep you waiting." She almost whispered. Her bluff seemed to go unnoticed, but Rin knew otherwise than to doubt Saber's observation skills, instead deciding not to linger any further, the awkward atmosphere getting to her head. Rin rose off her bed, grabbing her school uniform with her in preparation for another tedious day.  
Yet she smiled… 

She smiled to the end of _Berserker's Arc. _

Berserker's arc of pain and destruction, 

Both physically and psychologically.

--

_AQ – Sorry for that anti climactic death of Berserker, and things seem a bit choppy at school but I'll try my best to keep it updated._


	8. Change

Chapter Six – Trip to the Past

Chapter Six – **Change**

_AQ – __alright, there are a few things I need to note now… usually I use "--" to identify a period of time between events, well if I use two of them in a row it just means an even longer time…_

**--**

The Tohsaka's residence never seemed like a nice place to visit at night, the size speaking for itself, yet, even with that in consideration there was a soft knock on the door of Rin's mansion like house. Rin glanced up at the time on the grandfather clock as she read out the time aloud, "Eight Thirty… I wonder who that could be…" She said almost bitterly as she went to answer the door, Saber only metres behind. As they got closer to the door the walking turned to a shuffle as Rin peered through the eyehole at the door, trying to make out the figure on the other side. Rin gave up trying to identify the stranger, twisting the door knob as the archaic like door creaked open, Rin pulling cautiously as she peeked her head out into the darkness, surprised.

Sakura stood there, moonlit as Rin prepared herself for the worst. Yet again, Rin was surprised as Sakura bowed down in front of her, "Sincerely Sorry Tohsaka Rin." Sakura apologized, bowing frantically over and over again. Rin noticed something different however. Sakura's tone of voice had changed during the time she had seen her last with Berserker. It had become light again, almost faint, whisper like, but Rin had no time to dwell on such thoughts, attending to the matter at hand.

"Oh, it's perfectly fine! Don't worry about it Sakura-san, please, come in," Rin offered as her arm entered the cold atmosphere on the other side of the door. "You must be cold, please." As Rin grabbed Sakura's hand and yanked Sakura in to her surprise, as she lead her to the main living room, offering her a seat as she gracefully slid into her own. "No thank you--" But Sakura was interrupted mid sentence by Rin.

"Get us some tea please Saber, oh and try not to make too much of a mess." She teased.

"As I was saying, you don't need to be this friendly; after all, I did try to kill you…" Sakura mentioned again.

"No, don't worry; I know you were not yourself."

"Yes, just what I wanted to talk about… my behaviour at the time, was… unacceptable and I do not know how to repay you…" Sakura said shyly, not looking at Rin as she stood in front of her.

"Sit down first, please."

"If this gets things started." Sakura said, sitting down on the opposite couch, yet still tensed up on the edge of her seat. Rin let it go unnoticed as she continued.

"Everything is fine, I understand that the Holy Grail… it is a very persuasive thing."

"Nevertheless it was me, me who got Shirou almost killed… That is unforgivable, especially after he offered me a home…" Sakura said, her lips trembling, Rin knowing what it meant as she rose and sat next to her, putting her arm around Sakura's shoulders.

"Don't worry about it, it will all be fine, I'm sure Shirou will understand." Rin reassured Sakura as she noticed the two small pools of water situated on the corner of each of Sakura's eyes. Rin wrapped both her arms around Sakura as she whispered to herself, "I've done far worse to you." Sure that Sakura had not heard.

--

_Sakura, my sister… My one true sister… _

--

"You can stay here as often as you like, please." Rin offered, attempting to remove the guilt from her conscious. "It has been too long…" the last few words slipping out into the silent living room. For a second, Rin had thought that her mistake had gone unnoticed, as her earlier one had, but Sakura had noticed as she glanced up at Rin, confusion on her face. Instinctively, Rin smiled back, hoping the bluff would work, but to her disappointment, it did not.

"What has been too long?" Sakura finally asked, gently stroking back her violet hair, behind her ears, like she was ready to listen, as she stared up, intently at Rin. Rin knew it was no good to keep lying to her. Truth had to be told, no matter how cold and dark it may be, yet she stalled, only to look into Sakura's intent, as well as confused, eyes.

"How my sister has been vacant from the house for too long." Continuing to brace herself for what was to eventually come.

"Who's your si-" And at that point, Rin knew it had finally hit Sakura. By the expression on her face, very hard. "But…" Sakura finished, struggling to find words. "How…" She finally managed to whisper, confusion, and doubt, in her voice.

"It, it is such a long story, and complicated…" Rin tried to persuade her out of it, but Sakura kept up with her constant staring into Rin's eyes, boring down at the large amount of guilt towards Sakura that had been buried for so long, forsaken by her thoughts, by anything, yet she remembered it like it was yesterday, and technically it was, since it had been _that _long since her sister was with her, her only sister. "It was… a very long time ago, when we were little kids. It was because of… this… father, our father, was a magician, like us. But he did not want to children, for that would only increase the risk of competition, and risk both lives, rather than one..." Rin tried to say, as least cruel as she could make it sound, yet to no avail, as Sakura flinched back, the water in her eyes sparkling, and Rin knew that the damage had been done. "I'm… so sorry…" as she shifted closer to Sakura, unsure of how she would react at first, then finally grew the courage to put her arms around Sakura as she pulled Sakura closer in an attempt to comfort her, as she whispered,

"My little sister."

--

After Sakura had _returned_ to the Tohsaka residents Rin's life had become much livelier, especially with Sakura now technically residing in the mansion, Rin had someone to talk to, to relate to things, and she was glad. But this also meant that Saber had to be careful of what to say, having still not warmed up to Sakura, her past sins unforgivable, in Saber's mind. However there was an advantage, even for Saber, with the new bond between the reunited sisters came with it months, maybe years of knowledge. Since Sakura had revisited the residence weeks ago, Rin, as well as Saber, had learnt how to _summon_ multiple servants at once, not that Rin intended to, and a richer knowledge of the Grail's history, and of this Grail's contestants. Occasionally, as Sakura explained the function of the Grail and her knowledge on it, Rin's mind would race, the thought of asking about Archer urging her to, but Rin suppressed her emotional needs, knowing it would only complicate the situation even more than it already was. But most importantly to Rin at that time, was her time at the Mato Residence, and how she had been mistreated, unloved and used by her ex-older brother Shinji, causing Rin to cry out in disbelief at times, hug and reassure Sakura at other times, as well as make her even gladder that she had rejected Shinji's _offer_ from before.

However, even with the change that entered the Tohsaka residence late that winter night, some things, to Rin's fear, remained constant. Constants like the fact that Rin had still not completely removed Archer from her system. Wether it was that she did not want to, or she couldn't, the occasional hurtful thoughts served as a reminder to Rin that it was still an issue to her, an issue that somehow Rin felt there was more to it than just a typical departure. Yet the constant reminder that there was still hope between the two came at a price, a price of heartache and suffering. Like any other cycle, Rin's feelings towards Archer peaked occasionally, and with that came the sour tears of melancholy. A day of silence, regret and depression, and as the level of emotions in Rin's mind dropped, she would seem back to normal, until, inevitably, her feelings would peak once again and so continued the cycle.

Yet, for Rin, the most important thing about this _reminder_ was the sole fact that it was the only thing to remember Archer by, and it was precious, no matter how much it hurt her.

--

--

Things had been tough since the parting of two friendships, and Shirou could feel it bear down on him, the consequences of the _neutral _relationship between Rin, and the very awkward relationship between Sakura, especially at school. Not only that, but his own bond between his servant, Archer. Shirou had always thought that Archer was a very quiet person from first sight, however the later communication between him and Rin had proved his theory wrong, as well as doubt why Archer would speak to her openly, yet not even his own master.

Not only that, but Shirou had noticed strange things appearing around Fuyuki City, things that would usually never occur which, to Shirou's assumption was the work of the Holy Grail and its participants. Disappearances, kidnappings, murders, all linked, and these things infuriated Shirou. Infuriated at how innocents losing their lives for something that they had nothing to do with. Infuriated at the fact that he could do nothing but watch, from a third party view, people losing their lives. And every time Shirou made a loud outburst in defiance to another story on television, Archer would only snicker at his master's reaction, and from Archer's perspective, an example of the complete naivety and ignorance that dominated Shirou's mind, finding it disgusting and utterly impossible to believe saving everyone, was for starters, even possible. Yet Shirou did not care what his servant thought, after all, one of Shirou's traits was to be tolerable of others, and always respected other's views, as he had grown accustomed to it during his time at high school.

As well as that, Shirou's school days had become much longer, many after school clubs asking Shirou for his famous mechanical services, no doubt thanks to Issei after he had fixed the old heater that late Autumn. But he knew staying later also meant risking his life as the days soon became night much quicker, and the night only invited trouble, and in these times, fatal troubles.

--

The nights had been growing colder and colder as Fuyuki City entered its winter season, yet tonight, Shirou knew it was different. It was colder than usual yet there was no wind and no cloud. Only the lights of Fuyuki City and the large crescent shaped moon in the sky. He walked briskly across roads and intersections, pacing faster and faster as time passed by, almost running past the houses along his street. Then, out of the blue, Shirou had a flash thought of the innocent lives lost, which sparked his inquisitive side. "Archer, when will this end?"

"When will what end?" Archer asked dumbly.

"This, this war. It has been going on for far too long, and all these innocent people losing their lives." Shirou shuddered.

"Yes, it does seem a bit too long. Usually Holy Grail wars only end up taking less than a season or two… but this one has progressed much slower than I, and no doubt others, had anticipated." He answered from his ethereal form. "However, as for the lives, it is necessary." Shirou winced back at Archer's last comment.

"What!?" He asked wildly. "You sick…"

"The Holy Grail requires blood, and where else? I mean it is the easiest to access after all." As he appeared into his physical form next to Shirou as he smirked. Shirou turned away as he continued his brisk walk home. They continued in silence for a few more kilometres until Archer stopped dead as he whispered.

"Damn." Shirou stopped as he looked back, confused. "We're in a trap." As Shirou finally noticed his surroundings. This was the entrance/exit to the forest, and the road that lead to the Ryudoji temple. He peered deep into the darkness of the road, fear chilling his body. Shirou was a second late as he noticed the red flash as he found his face in Archer's cape as a clash of steel rung out in the silence. "Yo." A deep voice called from in front of Archer and out of Shirou's sight. Shirou moved back, as he attempted to take in the situation. He peered to his right and left first, as he turned to Archer's direction, and in front of his servant he saw a warrior wielding a spear, dressed in blue armour, no doubt another's servant. The spear itself was a deep blood red, and intricate gold yellow lining all over the sharp end of the spear like vines, seeming to originate from a garnet like crystal that had been forged into the spear's blood red steel. The spear created a strong contrast between it and the warrior's armour, dressed in a bold blue, with matching blue hair that was cut short and spiked, with two longer strands that drooped down loosely on either side of his forehead.

"How lucky of me to run into two servants in one day!" The servant said, his deep voice bellowing, then chuckled to himself as he bounced back, rearing back to attack again, swinging his spear before putting the spearhead directly in Shirou's direction, smiling wickedly. "AHH!" He cried as he charged full pace towards Archer, already in a defensive stance, Kansho and Bakuya ready at hand. The ring of steel echoed once again and again as the unknown servant's smile soon faded. "What trickery is this? A sword wielding Archer class servant? Preposterous!" Archer smiled back.

"You on the other hand, Lancer class servant, easily recognized." Archer scoffed, arrogance floating in his voice.

"Enough toying around, time to die!" Lancer jumped high in the air as he readied his noble phantasm, a distinct grin on his face. Lancer readied his spear as he pulled it back, as he cried, "Gae!" The spearhead started glowing violently now, lashes of pure magic whipping out like electricity, as the light reddened. "Bolga!!" It finished as it lanced out the spear towards Archer, a large crimson beam protruding from its weapon, but Lancer's smile soon faded yet again as he realised that Archer was laughing now as he held up a large shield as he realised what it was. "Impossible. You are not Ajax!"

"True, I am not the Greek, Telamonian Ajax!"

"What is this, more trickery? This is Rho Aias is it not!?"

"Yes it is! Ha. You fool! You have no hope now!" As the crimson red beam came smashing down into the large shield, only to be deflected into a completely different direction. "Rho Aias. The shield used by the legendary warrior Telamonian Ajax! Basically immune to all spear like attacks! There is no hope! And now, it is MY TURN!" Archer laughed again as the shield disappeared into thin air, Shirou looking in disbelief as Archer again _created_ Kansho and Bakuya as he flew them out in unison, as the two boomeranged towards Lancer. Lancer parried the two incoming blades, only to prepare himself for another pair of blades as Archer came rushing towards him, Kansho and Bakuya ready by his side. Another piercing ring echoed from the two opponents as they leaped back, preparing themselves for the real fight. They stood there, speechless, waiting for the other to make the move, watching for the slightest opportunity. Archer watched and waited patiently, having the more controlled breathing of the two, Lancer on the other hand breathing ecstatically, his arms slight shaking as the battle hunger reached his head, the crimson spear that he held almost shining now, as if it was in synchronization with the bloodlust in his mind. Yet Archer knew better than to fuel Lancer's hunger and instead kept his ground, waiting, until finally, Lancer ticked as the lust got the better of him. He leapt. Spear in front, as dust flew behind his mechanical like legs, Lancer let out a barbaric scream as he pressed forward, his weight on his front foot, making contact with Archer's scimitars. Archer parried the first motion off as he sent his own counter strike two Lancer's open side, the spearmen opting to defend using the pole of the spear, blocking Archer's left scimitar and with Lancer occupied with that, Archer sent his second scimitar straight around the other side to Lancer's back as he twisted on the spot, lifting the blunt end of his spear as he flicked off Archer's left scimitar to defend his open flank with the bladed end, another ring of steel echoed in indication of the successful block. Now Lancer had Archer back in retreat, his spear now in an ideal position to counterattack as he shifted the spear to its target, then jabbed down, straight at Archer's chest. Archer parried again but this time Lancer's attack was relentless, as the spear dived back and forth in lightning swift motion leaving no room for any sort of counter by Archer. Parry after parry, step after step, Archer was on the retreat, yet still there was no falter in his defence, as was Lancer's relentless attack. The two jousted there, at the clearing of the forest, the clang of metal against metal ringing at regular intervals.

Yet there was something wrong, and Shirou was the only one to notice it. Lancer had no master, or no master in sight. But it was impossible for Lancer to have no master, or the blue warrior fighting in front of him would be nothing but an illusion. With the sudden realisation of the issue at hand, Shirou's eyes automatically scanned the darkness at the fringe of the forest, looking out for anything suspicious, yet without luck as he gave up, only to shift his concentration back onto the battle at hand. The pace of the battle had changed, Archer now, slowly, yet gradually gaining the upper hand as Lancer slowly realised as well.

"What is this nonsense? You are not a Saber class servant, yet you do not wield a bow as an Archer class would!" Lancer cried out in the heat of the battle, deflecting the repetitive attacks of Archer's blades, as Archer finally replied,

"Does it matter? Maybe I may be neither!"

"Yes, that makes sense now…" Lancer muttered to himself as they continued dancing under the moonlight, "Only an assassin class would have such a mentality as that. That would also explain the higher level of skill in melee expertise, but sadly, not…good… enough!" As Lancer leaped back, propelling himself from the ground into the air as he angled his spear down into the ground laughing wickedly as he spoke, "I must thank you for allowing this fight to have continued this far!" Archer flinched back, bracing for impact as he summoned his large shield once again, throwing his blades off into the darkness around him as they disappeared from sight. "The shield will do you no good." Lancer warned, "You do not understand, my spear, it is a living entity in itself, and it hungers for battle as much as I do, and the longer you do not let it taste my opponent's blood it gets hungrier and hungrier, you see… My spear is actually a very impatient demon spirit trapped inside this weapon, and it hungers for blood."

"You- You're--"

"Cú Chulainn" Lancer finished, "It seems that I am well known by my fans, and so I shall not disappoint… Gae…"

"You're joking me. You think that will penetrate my shield?" Archer mocked yet Shirou knew better than to just stand around, something big was about to go off and he did not wish to be caught in the crossfire, or the aftershock, as he edged back from the two opponents.

"…Bolga!" Lancer cried as thousands of electric like pulses surged from the spear, as Archer's eyes widened, knowing this was not any normal phantasm.

Lancer flung his spear out as it bulleted directly towards Archer, and almost instantaneously, there was an explosion as the spear made contact with a solid entity, Archer's shield and for a split second it seemed as though the attack was over, and with that another explosion, this time of raw _red _mana, bursting out as the red glow illuminated the trees at the fringe of the forest. The energy licked wildly out as it seemed to stay stuck on top of Archer's shield, growing bigger and bigger until finally it exploded over the shield as dust whipped up to screen out Lancer's, as well as Shirou's, views. Moments passed, and another delayed wave of energy surged out of the impact zone into its surroundings as Shirou felt the aftershock which he had been expecting, yet there was no time to think about secondary damage, the stinging sensation emitting from his command seals reminding him that Archer's fate was still undecided.

Lancer remained in midair as the dust settled and Archer's body became clear, and Shirou widened his eyes in horror. Archer was on one knee, his right arm wrapped around his chest, clutching his left arm for support, blood trickling from his wound. The spear was impaled besides him, the distinct red glow gone, now just an ordinary spear. "Impossible." Lancer glared wide eyed at Archer. "I had harvested enough souls to last me a month, without the need to recharge…"

"What!? Harvested!?" Shirou cried out in shock and disbelief, yet Lancer continued, ignoring Shirou.

"Yet I have wasted my entire spear's energy is gone. All of it. And not only that, but my target is not even dead." Lancer grimaced, yet smiled again. "Oh well, at least now my opponent is crippled!" Diving down towards his spear to finish off Archer, but before he could reach the ground he stopped as he glanced to his right, then his left, as a faint sound of slicing air grew louder and closer, Lancer finally realizing what it was.

Kansho and Bakuya were back, with a vengeance. Archer smiled weakly at the success of his plan, as he had caught Lancer unaware and undefended. Archer grunted, pain burning in his chest as he almost struggled to stand up right, then finally laughed at Lancer, walking over to the impaled spear, placing his hand on the top of the pole as his hand glowed. "Thanks, I hope this helps."

"You… You bastar--!" Lancer screamed in anger only to be cut off by the two whipping scimitars, as they ripped through Lancer's body as easily as they had been slicing through the air, a violent clang of metal following as the two blades collided at the center of Lancer's abdomen, frozen in midair as they suddenly glistened then disappeared into thin air, Lancer's body only just still in one piece as he fell to the ground as a cloud of dust spilled around him. The fight was over, and with that Shirou moved closer to the motionless body as he noticed that Lancer was still alive, his chest puffing up then falling again. Shirou noticed his face, illuminated under the moonlight as he smiled slightly, blood trickling from the edge of his lip. "This … isn't … the…" Lancer whispered faintly as Shirou flinched back from shock, then leaned closer to hear Lancer clearly. "…end…" As he choked a bloody choke. Shirou rose, knowing that Lancer's life was coming to a close as Archer came limping next to him, his face showing no expression whatsoever, opening his mouth to speak, "Let's go." As he disappeared into his ethereal state, Shirou not daring to stick around for the _after party _as he continued his way home.

--

"So tell me, why are you still alive? No offence." Shirou asked as he sat down on the floor, dinner all set out on the table as Archer sat down opposite him, gracefully placing a lump of rice into his mouth. "I thought you would have been impaled by something like that…" He let Archer finish the rice, as he finally replied,

"Does it matter? He is dead now." Cold yet again, yet Shirou ignored the indication that Archer was not in the mood for talking as he continued in his interrogation.

"So, what about the scimitars? How did they come back at the last minute?"

"Forty percent training, sixty percent skill." Archer joked back harshly, and Shirou gave up, deciding that silence was the best option at that moment, as another thought crossed his mind._ I wonder how they're doing… I sure do miss their company… _

And with that he rose from his seat, quickly putting on a thick overcoat as he rushed out the door, slamming it behind him.

-

"Come in." The voice called out from inside the house. "It's open!" As Shirou nudged at the door, creaking open as a rush of warm, comforting air met him. A small glow edged the outlines of the wooden door, growing larger as Shirou pushed the door until it was now open fully. "Shirou!?" Rin called out in surprise, followed by another surprised, yet somewhat happy, voice,

"Shirou!" Sakura came rushing into the entrance as she opened her arms up and hugged an unprepared Shirou. Shirou returned the greeting as he _attempted _to move his arms around her, but seemed to be stuck as Sakura's grip was so secure that they refused to move. "Is something wrong?" Sakura instinctively asked as she moved back again, worry drowning her expression.

"Everything is fine; I'm just here to see how things are going here." Shirou eyed a glance at Saber, only to find himself locked in her eyes, staring intently, yet cautiously at him. He had to break eye contact but he couldn't, something deep inside him refusing to. However fortunately for him, Saber broke off as she looked dumbly off to her left, Shirou's senses coming back to him as he reverted his view back onto Rin.

"Yes… Everything is fine…" Rin answered carefully, slightly hesitant.

"We should talk." Shirou blurted out, as he felt he could not hold the words from spilling out his mouth any longer. All three of their eyes widened towards Shirou and for a second Shirou thought that it was what he had said that had caused the three to look out in complete shock, but it was not Shirou they were staring at. It was behind him, as Shirou realized as well, pivoting on the spot as he saw his servant Archer standing tall in front of him, his signature arrogant smile, spread wide across his face.

"A-Archer." Rin stuttered, the sudden rush of thoughts and emotions flooding her capacity to think straight, "Wha-What are you doing here?" Archer just gave Rin a blank stare, looking straight into her eyes, and Rin could feel the heart racing, her blood racing. It was not that she couldn't move away, but because it was that she did not want to move away, as much as it would hurt later, it was worth it. At that moment Archer turned his head slowly, coldly, away from Rin, his smile all but hidden behind a new, steel like expression, stern and rigid, with no traces of emotion. And at that, Rin felt the harsh sting of reality, as well as the consequence. She did not know why she even looked in the first place, however painful as it was, as hopeless as it was, to her surprise; there was no regret.

"Well…" Shirou broke in, in attempt to get rid of the awkwardness of the situation. "I guess we should be going…" Shirou began as he mumbled off.

"No. Don't. Stay, dinner is almost ready." Rin answered, "Sakura, is dinner ready yet?"

"Yes, I think the rice is done now." She said cheerfully, breaking the eerie mood. "Let's eat before the food goes cold." As the group filed into the main dining room, Archer only a footstep behind, as Saber shot him a threatening glance, Archer already aware of what she meant.

-

"Sakura, your cooking is excellent as always." Shirou said, putting another clump of rice into his mouth.

"Thank you." Sakura said, a smile on her face, as she watched the others eat.

"So…" Shirou said as he finished the rest of his rice. He was not used to being the lead of conversation yet it seemed like there was no other choice. "I was thinking…" He trailed off, thinking of what to say next. "I don't know how to put this very well, but…" _How should I put this…? _"I think it would be beneficial for both of us if we became allies in the Holy Grail War, I mean we were before, why can't we be friends now?" The words spilled out before any of the others could respond. Silence passed, as he let the words sink in, until finally Rin spoke. "Why?" Almost sounding like she was in defiance of something important.

"Why not?" Sakura's protest cutting through, Rin shooting her a glare, as Sakura sent one back Rin's way refusing to stand down. And everything went silence once more, unexpectedly. Yet that did not bother Shirou, as he continued.

"I think we should really, at the least, become allies, I mean I really hate this idea of conspiring against each other, after all we are class mates!"

"Shirou is right. Anyway, I miss him." Sakura added, teasing him.

"I…" Rin started.

_I can't be so selfish. It's not fair on Sakura, or Shirou. Why should three people suffer, when only one can. _

"Yeah, I guess your right." Rin finished as she smiled weakly.


	9. Reminded

Chapter Seven – **Reminded**

And so came the close to another school week and with that another "tactics" meeting which seemed more of a social get together in both Shirou's and Archer's eyes, the majority of the time Sakura and Rin talking to each other with the occasional interruption from Shirou. Yet, acknowledging the fact, Shirou remained quiet, as this was also another excuse for Shirou to see his dream girl, Rin's servant, Saber. Even though he did not know her real name, or anything about her, he continued to admire her like a child addicted to chocolate.

However, the moment Shirou stepped foot into the house, he felt something was going to be different, yet he ignored it as he removed his shoes and continued into the living room. Shirou entered the living room as he immediately sat on the closest sofa, as his body sank into the puffed leather. Rin was already seated, drinking tea, as usual, from her antique porcelain cup, sipping at it at regular intervals while holding the decorate plate in her other hand. Saber stood behind the couch Rin was seated on, arms crossed and eyes shut, motionless like a statue, and still dressed in her armour. She opened one eye slightly as Archer appeared in the living room, in the most isolated corner, as he leaned back on the wall, also retaining the same crossed arm stature as Saber, however crossing his leg over as well, and giving a more casual look. Sakura was the last to enter, shuffling in with the usual afternoon tea, biscuits and tea, which no one ever ate anyway. As she sat down next to Rin they smiled to each other, and almost simultaneously started conversing among each other, gossiping, laughing. Yet something seemed to have changed the atmosphere of the usual light mood, as Sakura ran off topic as the entire room went silent.

"What?" Rin asked, shocked in disbelief.

"I said, I think that you two should swap servants for a while!"

"What? Why?" Rin continued to question her, staring at Shirou, who unexpectedly had nothing to say at all.

"Well I was thinking that with this whole friendship thing, we should get to know each other more!" Sakura knew she was pushing her luck but she continued anyway.

"That's no good reason at all!" Rin protested again.

"Yeah." Shirou weakly added.

"But it's too awkward! I always watch how you interact with each other! I think we could all benefit from this!" Sakura cried back, the new found courage that had been discovered deep inside her during the war causing her to continue pushing her limits, arguing back.

"Oh and you should be the one to decide wether or not we socialize with each other! I welcomed you in open arms! A new family! And this is how you repay it? By thinking you're the authority of the house!?" Rin was absolutely furious now, rage consuming her entire body. Everyone stared at Rin, in shock and in silence.

"Sorry…" Sakura finally said quietly, realising that she had spoken out of place. "I'm very sorry." As she pushed herself back into her seat, bowing her head in defeat as her hair ran over her face. An even longer silence endued as each pair of eyes shifted among each other, until eventually, they all stopped at Rin, not including Sakura of course, who was now in remorse over her earlier outburst. Rin eyed every single person in the room before finally giving in, standing up as she sighed. "Ok." She began, letting out another, deep sigh. "Sorry Sakura, I shouldn't have said any of those things." Sakura, who had been quietly sulking, with her head bowed down, finally pulled her head back up as the light shone onto her face, as a distinct trail of tears sparkled on her face.

"No, it's my fault. I really shouldn't have myself, and you are right. I am taking everything for granted." Sakura spoke. "Sorry." She finished, almost inaudible, as she lowered her head once again, her fringe casting a shadow over her eyes.

"Oh really, I am sorry! We'll even do what you wanted us to do!" Rin knew it was against her own will to accept to such a thing, yet her guilty conscious knew it had to repent, and what better way than to let Sakura's request come true. Sakura lifted her head slightly, glancing at Rin. "After all," Rin added, "I am your older sister so I should be the more tolerable of the two!" She smiled cheerfully, masking all of her negative thoughts.

"…I" Sakura began, as Rin cut in.

"Don't worry about it. It's fine!"

"Sorry to break up the little drama act thing but I think the rice is ready." Archer interrupted as the entire atmosphere broke up.

"Hmph." Rin expressed as a rebuttal, as she walked off to tend to the rice, imagining that Sakura was in no state at all to be doing any manual labour tonight, no matter how easy it was. Yet she was already having second thoughts about accepting to Sakura's irrational request.

--

Sakura looked at her watch, the watch she had received on her third birthday as a gif from her father. The analogue encased in a simplistic metal frame attached to a thin, black leather strap, yet, simplistic as it was, it had a feel of class and elegance, and it was also one of her only tangible items that her father had left Rin with.

Finally remembering why she had looked down at the time in the first place, she thought to herself, _I'll take this hour by hour and it should all work out._ "The first hour of eight." She sighed to herself as Archer coolly walked up to her, his head high and arrogant, as usual. "Hi." Rin greeted him flatly as Archer sat himself down onto the couch. Archer ignored Rin, gracefully flicking his hands out of his overcoat as he reached for a small key in his inner pocket of his red coat, fiddling around with it in his fingertips. Rin looked at the key thoughtfully, as Archer took note of it, quickly hiding it back where it had originated from. Coincidentally enough, Shirou and Saber soon entered after Archer, Saber seating herself next to Rin, and Shirou, close enough to be seen as next to, Archer. "Ready?" Shirou asked Saber, anticipation filling his voice.

"Yes." Saber answered, her reply as emotionless as it could be, Shirou flinching slightly as Rin quickly whispered something into Saber's ear, Saber only nodding in agreement.

"Going now?" Shirou asked as Rin nodded. "Shouldn't we be waiting for Sakura?"

"Why?" Archer came in, surprisingly. "There is no need to waste more time, after all, she is neither a master nor a servant." Rising from his seat after Rin, only to walk off without showing any regard to Rin at all.

"I guess you're right…" Shirou said, unheard. "Want to head off as well Saber?" He asked as politely as he could, the words almost stuttering out in hesitation.

"Yes, let's go." Saber answered as she rose in one graceful motion, Shirou noting the eye contact between Saber and Rin, yet losing his train of thought as his eyes returned on Saber. Almost to the extent of losing her as she had almost exited the room while Shirou had been in trance, as he clumsily rushed to her side, Rin letting out a childish giggle in response.

-

_Only three more hours to go…_ Rin thought to herself as she glanced down at her wristwatch once again.

"You know the old saying Rin?" Rin looked up in surprise and confusion at Archer's first words.

"Archer! I never knew you could speak! Especially after the time you got based around by Berserker!" Rin said back in annoyance as well as slight retaliation. Archer remained completely composed as he blinked extremely slowly then finally replying,

"A Watched pot never boils. That's all I'm saying Rin." Archer said, ignoring what Rin had just said.

"Well then tell me." Rin started as she took a deep breath mustering her words into one sentence. _So much to say… No. _"What do you expect me to do instead of that then? You're not helping either." _Not like I expect you to help anyway. _

"I just did?"

"Jeez Archer! You're so annoyingly frustrating you know that?" As she turned her back from Archer, walking off in sheer anger.

"Yo! Where are you going?" Archer shouted out after her but did not move from his spot as Rin turned. _I knew it. So arrogant. _

"Away from your ego!" Rin shouted back.

And with that Rin ran off, tears trailing behind her. She ran, taking turns around all sorts of corners, ran till her heart burned and there her legs ached, bending over to catch her breath. Eventually her heart returned to its normal state, beating at regular and steady intervals as she lifted her back straight, head high, hungry for air. She inhaled the air heavily, closing her eyes, and held her breath, finally exhaling as she placed her hands on her face, her fingertips tracing the faint stream of tears up to her eyes as she dried them up, wiping them away almost furiously.

Wiping away the last of her tears, Rin widened her eyes as she finally decided to take notice of her surroundings. The rusty iron fence and mouldy granite and limestone was all Rin needed to see to know where she was. Graveyards had always given Rin the creeps and she had no intention on being anywhere near the dead.

Yet something stopped her dead in her tracks. It was the sky, the clouds, stained in a deep crimson colour, almost like blood as the sun set. _No, I couldn't have been running for that long…_ shifting her view back down to her wristwatch, reading the time aloud. "Two-thirty…" She muttered to herself. _Something is wrong. _

"For a master you sure are slow!" An interjecting voice called out from the darkness of the graveyard. "The sky's been like this for almost an hour now!" Rin was filled with panic as she tried to make out who the voice belonged to, hastily scanning the murky atmosphere in front of her. It was no good.

"Who are you?" Rin replied out into the darkness.

"Do you not recognize my voice?" The deep voice asked back, full of astonishment.

"Should I?" Rin felt her body ready to run at full sprint, shaking and eager to get away from this spooked area.

"Your ignorance astounds me, as well as disappoints me. I expected better from you, Tohsaka Rin." That made Rin tick. She had had enough spooks for one day, pivoting on the spot as she bolted off in the direction she had come from, using her newfound energy to its best value.

"You're letting her go?" The shadowed figure behind him questioned in impatience.

"To an extent… But that is rude of me, without showing her my going away present." A malevolent smile crept across the strangers face. "It'll just have to be a surprise then…" As three shadowed figures blurred past, flashing towards the entrance of the graveyard, as they broke out into the broad daylight, the crimson light shining upon the figures, each covered in a skin tight black costume, and each of different physical proportion, however retaining one thing in common. Their faceless white masks.

Rin sped past a corner as she shot a glance back; praying to herself that she wouldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Focusing back in front her, Rin realised that she was only minutes from her house, her haven. _Just another few turns to go… _Her hurt throbbed, the pain stabbing in regular intervals, her legs aching in protest to stop, and her faced flushed, sweat droplets now trickling down from her forehead. Rin swiped away the sweat as she ignored her body's distress. She turned another corner. _Yes! _Rin thought to herself as she bolted down the street. _Almost there, one more corner-._ She stopped dead in her tracks, her hopes of survival plummeting as her eyes fell upon a lone figure in the middle of the road, and an extra figure sprawled across the ground next to Rin's obstruction. _A servant? Looks like I have to use a command seal to summon Sab- _Rin never got to finish what she was thinking as a sudden pain in her guts sent her onto her knees, as she peered up, horror creeping up her spine. The figure remained motionless, simply staring at Rin. _Impossible. No servant is that fast… But how… _The figure started moving as it bent over, cupping the victim's head in its palm, and in one swift movement it was over as it sent a dagger through the victim's neck, as the victim jerked once violently, then went motionless again. However the figure did not move its dagger from the victim as the blade started glowing a mystic purple, Rin only glaring in horror, yet fascination at the same time, until finally did she realise what the figure was doing. It was draining mana from the victim. She started shuddering in fear and disgust as the lifeless body started shrivelling up, the skin turning a dark brown like colour. Rin felt like she was going to throw up, and suddenly another, much more significant chill ran through her body, as the dark servant's ebony white mask glared directly at Rin. _That's it. Sa—_ Another disruption interrupted her train of thought, yet this time it was not the painful blow to her body as she had expected, rather the ear piercing sound of metal against metal, the violent clang causing Rin to shut her eyes in fear, then realising that the sound was the sound of her saviour, as she turned, expecting to see Saber fiercely defending her, yet she was wrong.

"Archer!?" Rin cried out in surprise and disbelief. "What are you doing here?" As Archer slashed his scimitars away at thin air, more clangs being produced.

"Why are you asking questions!? I'm saving you so stay silent!" Archer shouted fiercely, this time swerving to the front of Rin raising his blades up to meet the attacker. And for the first time Rin saw what the attacker really looked like, its skinny physique clearly visible under the black cloth which covered the entire body, excluding the decorated white mask. Yet something was still not right to Rin, the mana source was not only resonating from in front of her but also behind her. _An illusionist? But it does not seem like a Caster class servant, more rather an Assassin class. _

"If you haven't realised yet Rin," Archer let out a sharp grunt as he found an opening in the assaulters defence, sending a side kick straight into its torso, the figure soaring into the sky as Rin felt an arm around her waist, tight and protective as she realised she was now in midair, carried by Archer.

"What are you doing Archer!?" Rin protested.

"I can't leave you down there with _them_ while I dispose of this one." Archer replied calmly. Rin felt the grip around him tighten greatly as she was forced closer to Archer, his body tensing as he raised his free arm, jabbing his elbow like lightning into the figure's torso once again as it was sent shooting down like a comet to the ground, the impact causing the ground to crack as an explosion of dust and debris surrounded the area of impact. Archer landed gracefully, a careful distance away from the dust as he stared at Rin, Rin only staring back in awe.

"Can you get your arms off my waist." Rin felt her face flush as she realised that she had held onto Archer through the entire ordeal, letting go immediately deciding that her pride had been damaged enough for one day. She smiled in embarrassment then suddenly felt the same secure grip around her body.

"What are you doing!? I'm not allowed to but you are!?" Rin protested furiously.

"I can't protect you from all three of them, lets go."

"What? Three?" But she had no times to collect her thoughts as a bright light filled her vision, the pair flashing off, Archer using his mana to increase his speed as they fled.

In seconds Archer had arrived at the Tohsaka residence as he let Rin down, her body still slightly shaky from the recent experience, Archer seeing this. "Well. Lets put it this way. At least the times gone by." He joked as Rin shot him a threatening stare. "What? Just trying to lighten the mood! Jeez." Rin ignored him as she turned for the door, then froze as she turned around to face him again.

"Won't those things follow us?" Rin asked suddenly.

"Yeah, probably." Archer replied almost uncaringly. "Actually, no. Probably not."

"Why not?"

"Their most favourable field of battle is an open field with plenty of cover, they would never assault a building, not with that number. Not with two servants."

Rin stared at him confused. "Two servants?"

"They've been observing us for some time now…"

"You knew but you didn't say anything!?" Rin questioned him furiously.

"Didn't think they would be such a threat." Archer replied quickly and coldly, meaning to end the conversation as Rin realised turning around to open the door as the knob twisted.

"We'll talk about this later. You're not off the hook that easily." Archer only letting out a sigh in response as he followed her inside. "Wait. What about Shirou and Saber?" Rin panicked, Archer only letting a small smirk escape his composed façade.

--

Shirou stopped, turning back realising that Saber had stopped, now daydreaming off the bridge that connected the east and the west sides of Fuyuki City, her body motionless. And for that one moment, she was at peace, her eyes calm and collected, and seeing this made also made Shirou unexplainably peaceful.

He found himself staring at Saber, analysing every detail of her face, from her perfectly squared off nose, to her perked lips to her crystal clear skin. But it was something else that was holding him, staring into her almost emerald eyes, lost in mysterious void of blue and green, like a peaceful lake. But no. Something had changed, the lake was transforming, the clear and placid lake being replaced by a chaotic and hostile storm.

And it was then Shirou knew something was wrong.

Saber's entire body tensed, as her eyes scanned the surrounding areas with one swift motion. Her facial expression was grim, her jaw tightened. Bright light shone upon her body, and for a second Shirou was blinded, Saber's knight armour returning into place.

"What is it?" Shirou asked, as he felt his own body tensing up, his fists clenched. Saber ignored him, backing her way towards him. "What's happening?" Shirou repeated, this time with a more forceful tone.

"Something comes."

"What?" Shirou asked immediately.

"I'm not sure. We have to get out of here." Saber advised. Shirou knew what she meant, as he began gaining his pace, knowing that Saber was not too far behind. Eventually the two were in full sprint, yet Shirou could not help but notice the crimson sky. _An omen perhaps. _Shirou thought to himself as they continued sprinting away from their unknown pursuer.

Then he finally realised. The only sound he heard was the sound of his own breath and him sprinting. He stopped dead in his tracks, turning back, Saber already in a defensive position, carefully eyeing the surrounding neighbourhood.

"We cannot outrun them Shirou." Shirou detecting the sharp edge in her voice, "Only stall."

"Then we will stall. The longer you remain unscathed the better." Taking Saber by surprise, grabbing her wrist as he pulled her with him, and almost successfully as well until she fell back into her senses.

"Shirou!" She exclaimed, her body suddenly turning heavier than stone. Shirou tugged unsuccessfully, not even budging her. "You are not my master." Her tone heavy and almost commanding, hoping to get Shirou to stop tugging. It was no use, as he continued to struggle against the stone statue. "Should I just displace you? After all, you are my burden," the words seeming to roll in one ear and out the other. "And my enemy." She finished, the tugging finally coming to an end.

_Would she really kill me? _

Saber clenched her palms around the hilt of her invisible blade, the sound of her metal gauntlets and the hilt echoing in the silence. And the pair stood, side to side, motionless, waiting for the other to make the first move. Shirou could see her eyes, almost analysing his own, deciphering the intentions in his eye, and he only returned the favour. This was the first time staring into her eyes this long, and he didn't want to look away, to escape, but his thoughts were in the wrong context, as the flicker of her eyes suddenly whizzing in all directions returned him back into reality.

"Who is it?" Shirou asked, stepping back as subtle as he could.

"You mean what is it?" Saber replied almost grimly, as her body tensed sharply. Shirou's forehead creasing up as he pondered among her words, Saber noticing his expression as she explained. "It doesn't show the same mana signals as a normal servant. Nevertheless, the mana is still extremely powerful." Adding grimly.

"We should stall more." He suggested, returning to his original plan.

"Yes. It seems the best; the closer we are to the residency, the higher our chances of being assisted." And this time, she caught Shirou by surprise, grabbing his wrist, almost dragging him along effortlessly.

Stopping short, Saber pivoted on the spot, pushing Shirou behind her. Shirou tensed up, his body almost bouncing as the adrenaline surged through his body as it prepared for the worst. A long, dull silence filled the atmosphere as Saber stood her ground, her hands clasped around the sword. Too long they waited, as Shirou's body relaxed slightly, his senses dulling, and all at the wrong time, as a black figure darted out from a shadow, then disappearing again, as the clash of steel erupted seconds later. "It's too fast!" Shirou exclaimed, rushing towards Saber to pull her away, or attempt to anyway, but was stopped dead in his tracks as he felt the wind in his face, and a sudden excruciating pain ripping through his chest as he fell to his knees. He tried moving his body, forcing it to move but his limbs did not respond. _Is this the end for me?_

In the distance Shirou could hear familiar voices as he lost consciousness for the second time.


End file.
